Slytherin
by This.Is.SCRUMPTIOUS
Summary: Paige Hollands is a not-so-popular Slytherin at Hogwart's. After three years of cruel torture from fellow Slytherins, she decides that she's had enough. She takes the summer before her fourth year to change the way she looks, and plan revenge on the princ
1. Chapter 1

I tried my best to avoid my reflection whenever possible. Whenever I would wash my hands in the bathroom, my head would be looking down into the water, the rushing liquid running too fast to show my face. Behind me girls would whisper to each other, sometimes they would say it right out loud, but whatever the case was, it was always about me.

When you were in Slytherin, there were certain expectations you had to live up to. First, you had to be good-looking. If you weren't that, then you had to be strong and stupid. Secondly, you had to be well-liked by everyone in Slytherin. Thirdly, you had to be well-liked by Draco Malfoy.

Unfortunately I was none of the above.

I wasn't very attractive. I had more what you would say, a natural beauty. But nobody in Slytherin gave a crap about natural beauty. It was all on the outside that counts.

They never let me forget that.

I had bushy hair, bushy eyebrows, wore glasses, was not a size 2, and was not wealthy. It was if I was just begging to get teased.

The only thing I had in common with any of the girls in Slytherin was that I was in love with the prince.

Draco Malfoy was a god.

When I came to Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, I thought the school would be a new beginning for me, a chance to make new friends. I had grown up in the same neighborhood all my life, and everyone there was the same. Same large houses, same grandeur cars, and same snotty children. The only thing I had that made me better than those spoiled brats was the fact that I was a witch. My parents were both magical and had told me of Hogwarts a long time ago. They explained to me the four houses, and how my dad was in Ravenclaw and my mother was in Hufflepuff. I had waited anxiously for that time in my life to come, and when my letter came, it was the happiest I had ever felt in my entire life.

But when I sat down on the three-legged stool and put on the Sorting Hat, I got such a surprise.

I was expecting to be in Ravenclaw, for I always did well in school. Even Hufflepuff would have been better than this. The hat sat on my head and deliberated in my head for a bit. I wasn't worried at all; my parents had assured me that I would most likely end up in one of their houses.

_Hm…very intelligent, I can see that. Perhaps Ravenclaw would do you well? Hm...ah but there is something else here, something very different. It hasn't awakened in you yet, but you have a dark future. I know just where to put you._

"Slytherin!" it bellowed out, and was met with unenthusiastic applause from the Slytherin table.

I was dumbstruck. The Hat had put me in Slytherin. Slytherin! Of all places. It was then that I knew that only the scenery of my life had changed; everything else would remain the same.

The years flew by, and nothing changed. Not until the final day of my third year at Hogwarts.

I walked alone to my usual friendless spot at the end of Slytherin table in the great hall. It was lunch time, and all my things were packed for the train ride home. All around me, the snakes of Slytherin leered at me from every angle, including that blond-haired god that had all of the girls enchanted. I sat down silently and began to put food onto my golden plate when a clump of mashed potatoes collided with the side of my head. It felt more like a slap to the face.

"Want some more?" they yelled, flinging some more at me. "I understand that you eat about the same amount as a horse!"

"More like a cow," Draco mumbled, and the entire table erupted in shrieks of laughter. I could feel the tears ready to flow as they had many times before. My appetite was gone at this point. I stood up from my seat and began making my way out of the Great Hall when my name was called.

"Paige!" They yelled, but I didn't even bother to turn around. The person put their arm around my shoulders and put me to a halt. I finally looked into the cold eyes of Draco Malfoy.

"I just wanted to talk to you," he told me in a soothing voice.

"What do you want?" I asked quietly. He turned me so that I faced him.

I was suspicious of his motives, but there wasn't anything I could do. He had me entranced. Draco Malfoy was actually touching me.

"I just wanted to say," he began, looking at me very seriously. I wanted to melt into the floor. "That I am inviting you to come over to my house sometime over the summer."

I looked up at him, shocked. Was he really inviting me? Was I dreaming? I had to of been. That was the only reasonable explanation.

"W-Why?" I asked nervously.

"Because at my mansion," he told me, smugly. "We have dungeons in our basement. It would be a great hiding place for you, since no one wants to see your ugly mug."

My heart stopped. He continued talking, not even acknowledging my paling face. How could people be so cruel? How could people be so…stupid?

And something inside of me suddenly just…snapped. Everything mean and malicious that anyone had ever said to me flashed through my mind and I thought to myself…

_Why I am taking this? _

My eyes flashed up dangerously at him and then I cut him off by punching square in the nose.

"You bitch!" he snarled dangerously at me. "Wait till my father hear's about this!"

"You've got that right," I snarled at him. He seemed to shrink back. "You don't know what you've done, Draco. You're stupid and juvenile teasing and bullying is not going to work on me anymore. I am done with you and your Slytherin lackeys. Come next year, you'll wish you had left me alone."

I turned around and left, ignoring the shocked outcries and sly insults coming from behind.

My words had done their job; it made me an even worse enemy out of Draco. But that didn't matter, because by next year, no one was going to mess with me.

~()~

**A/N: So I rewrote chapter 1 here, because I realized that it needed to be updated. It wasn't particularily good and I wanted to change that. It should be better now. And I think I will be updating all of the chapters until they are up to my standards. But keep reading! I hope you all enjoy this story! It gets better along the way, trust me. **


	2. Chapter 2

I got on the Hogwarts Express with confidence for the very first time. Over the summer, I had changed. I had made sure that I looked different, almost unrecognizable. Being a witch made that very easy.

I walked through Platform 9¾ with my parents at my side, trolley being pushed by my dad and making that familiar rumbling noise on the pavement, trying to walk faster so as to escape from their overbearing grasp. They always liked to watch every move that I made. At first, when I was younger, I was ok with it. I mean, they were just trying to protect me, to help me become a good person. But none of that really mattered now, and they were really getting on my nerves.

"We'll miss you, Paige," my mother said, her voice cracking. I rolled my eyes and stopped just in front of one of the train's compartments. The rumbling of my trolley had stopped as my dad pulled up next to me.

"Mum," I exclaimed, annoyed. "You cry every time you drop me off at the station. It's not like this is the first year I left home or anything."

"I-I know, honey," she blubbered. "But you're growing up so much now. And we won't be seeing you until Easter."

"You forget we have that whole two weeks off for Christmas," I pointed out distractedly. I was craning my neck to see if there was anyone that I recognized.

"Well, you might not want to come back home this year," she told me mischievously. This caught my attention.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked her suspiciously, narrowing my eyes.

"Are you looking at my daughter?" my dad shouted out to a boy before my mother could answer. The boy jumped up in the air and disappeared into the crowd. My father smiled to himself and returned his attention to us.

"Dad," I moaned, looking at him. "Please stop. You're cramping my style."

"Oh ho ho, you're style, eh?" he said to me, folding his arms and looking at me with teenage attitude. I grinned. "As I recall, you never cared about style before."

"I know," I responded with a breath. "But this year's going to be different."

The train's whistle blew, signaling all students to get on board.

"Finally," I mumbled so that my parents wouldn't hear. "Love you mum, dad."

I gave each of my parent's one last quick hug and dashed onto the train. In the past, I would find the nearest window and wave out of it, but not this year. I had more important things to do. The train slowly began drifting down the tracks. I could hear and feel the train slowly starting to pick up speed. Once we got onto the open field, I made my descent down the hall of the compartment, looking for someone in particular. It was time. Today was the day I turned into the Slytherin Princess. I would make it so myself I had to. I took a breath and closed my eyes. I opened them again and made sure they were as cold and dark as Draco Malfoy's.

There were numerous students crowding the hallway. I decided to make my own path. I bull-dozed my way passed all of them, pushing each and every one of them aside. I heard many outcries, but I didn't care. I couldn't care. Suddenly, I stopped dead in my tracks. Up ahead was the Slytherin Prince himself; Draco. He was walking in-between his two cronies; Crabbe and Goyle, sneering about something. I licked my lips and darted forward. I pushed the three aside as I did before, but before I could move forward, an icy grip grabbed my wrist.

"Hey, watch it-oh! Well then," he started, and then smiled that damn smirk of his. "Who are you?"

He took my hand and snaked his fingers between mine. I let out a small grin. His smirk always made me go weak in the knees, but now was not the time to let it show.

"Oh, Draco, don't you recognize me?" I asked slyly. He began massaging my fingers.

"I see you know me," his smirk grew a smidge bit wider.

"Who doesn't know you?" I asked, taking a step closer to him. "The Slytherin Prince."

"And you have yet to tell me your name," Draco continued. He stared me up and down, examining every bit of me. "Or shall I guess your name?"

"You could try," I teased.

"Why don't you sit with us?" he suggested, still massaging my fingers.

"Or," I said, withdrawing my hand and taking a step back. "I could find a compartment of my own. Sorry, I'm not into school boys."

I turned around, letting my hair whip around my face, and strutted away. I smiled to myself smugly, knowing that I had left the boy flustered. I began searching for an empty compartment, and almost gave up until I found one with only one person in it. I sighed and decided that this was probably my best bet. I opened the door and stepped inside. The boy looked up and me, nervously, and I instantly recognized him. He was Neville Longbottom, the dorky boy from Gryffindor. I remembered that all of the Slytherins would always pick on him, just like they had to me. Neville was very clumsy, and wasn't very good at anything, but he was very sweet.

"Mind if I join you?" I asked politely. I refused to be mean to this boy.

"S-Sure," he mumbled quietly. I smiled and took the seat across from him.

"You're Neville, right?" I asked, looking over at him. He nodded his head and swallowed.

"S-Sorry, I don't kn-know you are," he said. "I don't really talk to anyone."

"My name's Paige," I introduced myself. I held my hand out for him to shake, and he did. "Paige Hollands. I'm in Slytherin."

Neville shot his hand away from mine and began to cower in the corner.

"Please d-don't hurt me-me!" he whispered. I looked down sadly.

"I'm not gonna hurt you, Neville," I told him. He stopped shaking and looked at me curiously. "I know what it feels like to be picked on by everyone. It's not fun. But they won't pick on me anymore. And, they won't pick on you anymore, either, that I can promise you. How would it feel to have a friend from Slytherin?"

His expression didn't change. And then, he smiled. It was a small one, but it was there. There was a knock at the door, and the trolley lady slid it open.

"Anything from the trolley, dears?" she asked cheerfully. I looked at Neville.

"You want something?" I asked him. He shook his head. "Too bad. I'm getting you something."

I stood up and walked over to the lady.

"Two chocolate frogs, two licorice wands, two Drooble's, and two Bertie Bott's, please," I counted off. She pulled everything out for me and I traded it for money. I closed the door and sat down. I threw him one of each and opened myself a chocolate frog. My card was Salazar Slytherin.

Neville and I began talking about our summers, talking as if we had been friends all our lives. His stutter eventually went away, and his smile grew even bigger. The train whistled, signaling that we were almost at our destination. Neville was already in his robes, so he stepped out to allow me to change. Seconds after I had finished, I heard some laughing outside of the door. I could recognize that laugh anywhere. I charged outside to see Malfoy laughing at Neville, who was in Crabbe's chokehold.

"Zap him, Draco!" Goyle was shouting in his gorilla voice. "Make a girlfriend for his toad!" Draco laughed again and pulled out his wand.

"Expelliarmus!" I yelled, and his wand flew from his hand. He looked around, outraged, and finally spotted me. His jaw dropped and I smirked.

"Tell the block head to let him go, Malfoy," I said coldly, folding my arms.

"Why're you defending Longbottom?" he demanded in disbelief, taking a step towards me. I didn't move, but continued to smirk. "Wait, were you sharing a compartment with him?"

"Got a problem with that?"

"Yeah, actually, I do," he growled. He swallowed harshly.

"Sucks for you then, don't it?" I said smoothly. "Now let him go." Draco looked down, bewildered, and then his head snapped back up. His smirk was back.

"Maybe," he said, leaning on the wall and crossing his arms. I eyed him curiously. "For a small price." It was my turn to swallow. My eyes narrowed.

"How about I let you walk away without hexing and/or jinxing you?" I suggested frigidly. Malfoy sneered.

"Or how about a kiss," he said, opening his arms out. He tapped his index finger on his cheek. "Right here. Once in a lifetime opportunity." I wet my lips.

"Ok then," I said. I walked up to him and he turned his head, smirking all the while. I leaned in closer and closer, but instead of going to his cheek, I went to his ear and whispered: "Petrificus, Totalus." I had my wand pointed at his chest and he froze. He fell to the floor with a big 'clang.' I whipped my wand towards Crabbe.

"Who wants to be next?" I asked politely. Crabbe let go of Neville and threw his arms in the air. Goyle picked up the board-like Draco, whose eyes were swiveling all around the room. Neville walked over to me and stood next to me with a smile on his face. I smiled at him.

"You ok?" I asked, and he nodded. Just as I said that, the train slowed to a stop. I glanced at the window and saw Hogsmeade station. I grabbed Neville's hand.

"Come on," I began, pulling him towards the door. "Let's make our way to the carriages."

I once again bull-dozed my way through the people, ignoring all of their protests. We stepped off the train and onto one of the self-pulling carriages, miraculously managing to get one all to ourselves. The carriage jerked, and we made our way to Hogwarts.

"What was that all about?" Neville asked suddenly. He was staring at me in wonder.

"All what?" I responded, having no idea what he was talking about.

"With Draco," he elaborated. "Don't you Slytherins…er…worship the ground he walks on?"

I chuckled at how nervous he was. He was still uncertain if he could trust me or not. Understandable, considering what he has been through.

"Usually that's how it works, yes," I answered thoughtfully. "But I'm trying something different this year."

I debated about telling him my plan, and then thought better of it. He'll see it in the works soon enough.


	3. Chapter 3

**Slytherin**

**Chapter 3**

**Flustering the Slytherin Prince**

~()~

Once Neville and I had stepped off of the carriage, students were already making their way up to the great hall for the feast. At least a hundred students were pushing their way through the entrance hall, including the two of us. Before we reached the doors to the great hall, I pulled Neville aside and grabbed both of his hands.

"I guess this is where we split, huh?" I asked sadly, looking down at the floor. I didn't hear him say anything, so I assumed he nodded his head. I looked back up at him, and we stayed like this until the hallway was mostly cleared out. I sighed.

"Best get going then," I told him. He nodded in agreement.

I gave his hand one last squeeze and let go. Neville went to the doors, looked at me, and then stepped through into the Great Hall. As for me, I needed time to gather myself. I slowly took small steps towards the door and took a breath when I finally reached it. Butterflies were flying spastically in my stomach. This was even worse than the train ride. With shaking arms, I pushed open both doors at the same time and they flew open. I stepped into the large room with a cold stare, and looked around the room. To my relief, not many people were paying attention; they were all chatting with classmates about their summers. The room was loud with conversation and the scratching of the benches on the stone floor. I grinned, and strutted towards the Slytherin table, and caught sight of Malfoy. He was staring at me, just like everybody else at the table next to him, but I wasn't going take it. I gave him one quick little glance and walked right past him, but not before I felt some sort of pressure on my stomach. Draco had put his hand there to stop me, and pushed me slightly backwards.

"I saved you a seat," he said with a smirk.

I glared down at him and removed his hand from my body. I began to walk away again when he grabbed my wrist, just as he had on the train in our first encounter. He looked at me with those grey, hypnotizing eyes. Mechanically, I sat down next to him. Pansy Parkinson was sitting across from Draco, and she did not look very happy. We both stared at each other for what seemed like forever, not noticing anything else going on, until finally Dumbledore stood up, and I looked up at him. Draco was still fixated on me.

"I know you all have heard rumors about something big happening at Hogwarts," Dumbledore began, his eyes sparkling in the candlelight. "These are all true. Hogwarts is going to be hosting this year's Tri-Wizard Tournament."

The room burst like a balloon into excited conversation. I grinned at the people around the table, but said nothing. I never actually heard of the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

"Two other schools shall be joining us this year," Dumbledore continued. "Beauxbaton's Academy of Magic, and The Durmstrang Institute for Magical Learning. A student from each school shall be chosen to represent their school in the tournament. Now, we have here, one of our judges, Mr. Barty Crouch." A man, assuming to be Mr. Crouch, with a toothbrush-like mustache stood up from the long table of staff. He made his way to where Dumbledore stood.

"For safety reasons," Mr. Crouch began. "No one under the age of seventeen will be allowed to enter the tournament."

Boo's erupted from every table. Even a couple, 'That's rubbish!' were heard.

"The schools shall be arriving soon, just in time for the first task," Dumbledore said. "Now, if you wish to enter this tournament, you have to meet the standards of our impartial judge. The winners shall be chosen that way. There will be more details once our guests arrive at the school. For now, let's eat!"

He waved his hands in the air, and the tables were once again filled with food. Seeing so much food made me want to go back to my old ways, but I knew I couldn't do that. I gathered as little food as possible, making sure to eat as daintily as a doe. I glanced over at Draco, and noticed he was resting his head on his arm, and still staring at me. His face was expressionless. I ignored him, and went to take a bite out of my chicken, when he brushed a piece of my hair behind my ear.

"I still don't know your name," he whispered, making sure to drag his finger down my neck. It made me want to melt, but I contained myself.

"In due time, Draco," I told him, and finished eating.

"Hey," Pansy said suddenly, looking around the table disappointedly. "I wonder where the cow is."

I went to dab my face with my napkin, and then stopped. I looked at her, but only moving my eyes. Everyone that had heard was snickering.

"Maybe she finally got the hint and went to fat camp," a Slytherin boy guessed. I continued to stare at Pansy. Draco's eyes had narrowed.

"Or maybe she's planning her revenge on all of us Slytherins as we speak," I guessed, with a smirk. I stopped staring at Pansy and continued to dab my face with my napkin.

"You don't think?" a Slytherin boy asked nervously.

"Nuh uh!" Pansy yelled in that annoying voice of hers. "She's too nice to do anything like that."

"Then again," I added, putting my napkin on my plate. "She has taken a load of crap from us for three years. Anger built up for that long could make someone explode...maybe _that's_ what happened to her!"

The table exploded with Slytherin laughter. Even Draco was smirking. He stopped staring at me and finally began eating.

It turned out that I had made myself the most popular girl in Slytherin; even more popular than Pansy, but even she seemed to like me. I was surrounded by almost every single Slytherin, with Draco on my left side. I was chatting away with a 3rd year about my summer, when a Slytherin seventh year that I did not know put his arm around my neck. He was very attractive; even gave Draco a run for his money. He began to nuzzle my neck, and I felt Draco tense.

"What is your name?" the guy whispered in my ear. He had short, brown, slightly curled hair. He was tall and muscular, with a great tan. I leaned into his ear and whispered:  
"If I told you that, I would have to kill you."

"Oh, Avada Kedavra me, baby!" he moaned and I giggled.

Draco was none too pleased. He whispered something to Goyle, who nodded and disappeared into the crowd. I stared at Draco, curiously, waiting to see what he would do next. I didn't even notice that the boy's arm was gone from my neck. I searched for the brunette haired cutie, but only saw Goyle behind me. Draco seemed happier.

I managed to escape the mob of followers when I reached the girl's dorms in the dungeons. Today had ran...rather smoothly. For the first time in my life, no one made fun of me. It was as if I was a normal human being, just like everybody else, but I had a feeling things were going to return to normal tomorrow on the first day of term, and my dream will be over. Maybe the news of the Tri-Wizard Tournament will cover up the cow...

~()~

The first class of the day was Herbology with the Gryffindors, and was pleased to see Neville once more. I took a spot across from him, and Draco unceremoniously took the spot on my left. He was very keen to make sure I was on his right.

"Good morning, class!" Professor Sprout greeted cheerfully as she entered the greenhouse.

"Good morning Professor Sprout," the class mumbled back.

"This term, we will be studying how to properly care and tend to magical 's lesson is about a plant called Lilliopous," she began, writing the name on the chalkboard behind her. "Open up your books to page 12. Can anyone tell me what a lilliopous plant is?"

Two hands shot in the air: Hermione Granger's and Neville's. Sprout chose Neville.

"A lilliopous plant is a water plant that only grows on the bottom of swamps," Neville told her excitedly. "It is almost like a muggle's Venus flytrap, except it catches humans instead of flies."

"Very good, Mr. Longbottom!" Sprout exclaimed. "Ten points to Gryffindor! What you will be doing today is learning how to uproot them. They are very vicious plants, but that's why I've given you baby plants. As time moves on, you will deal with the big ones. The directions are in your books. The plants are in front of you. You have the rest of the class period to de-pot them. When you are finished, help others. Begin!"

All of the students, including myself, began reading our textbooks and finding out how to uproot them. The plant was inside a large fish bowl, and it looked like any other lily, except ten times the size and it was yellow. The book said that you needed to stir up the water to awaken it, and then, when it was open, fill it up with a powder called mungstung. I did as the book said, and the plant spit it back at me. I wasn't the only one having difficulty with this: Ron Weasley's bowl had shattered and water was spilling all over, and Blaise Zabini's plant curled up and died. I looked over at Neville, and he was already replanting his in another tank at the back of the room. He returned a few moments later and asked if I needed help.

"Oh yes please," I asked, my voice filled with relief. I had no idea what I was doing, and was more than happy to step aside and allow him to take over.

"Your first mistake was that you stirred the water clockwise, instead of counter-clockwise," Neville informed me. I took the stirring stick one more and did as he said. The plant opened again, except this time its petals were pointed, instead of slightly curled. I sprinkled in some of the mungstung into the bowl, and it uprooted itself. I pulled it out and repotted it where Neville had his.

"Wow, Neville," I said in admiration. I raised my eyebrow at him, impressed. "You're really good at Herbology, aren't you?"

He shrugged his shoulders slightly and blushed.

"Of course," Draco said, turning to us. "He's not good at potions, charms, transfiguration, or anything else. He had to be good at _something_." The other Slytherins around us sniggered.

"Better than you, Draco," I said, putting my hand on Neville's shoulder. "Who isn't good at _anything_. Well, there is potions, but you only excel in that because you suck Snape's dick every night."

The whole room gasped in surprise, and Draco's smirked disappeared entirely from his face. He didn't sneer at me or anything; in fact, he seemed quite stunned. No one would've ever suspected that I would have said something like that to the prince. Draco swallowed harshly, and glared at me angrily. Professor Sprout hobbled back into the room and smiled at me and Neville.

"Ah, it seems that Mr. Longbottom and Ms...Uh?" she began, looking over at me. Without thinking I blurted my name out to her.

"Hollands," I told her, and then realizing my mistake, I turned my head towards Draco. "Paige Hollands."

"Ah, well you two are the only ones to have finished. You can help the others if you'd like," she suggested, and once again, disappeared from the greenhouse.

"Need some help, Draco?" I asked, taking a step towards him. His mouth was slightly open, and he was staring at me in disbelief.

"No," he said, his mouth gaping like a fish out of water. "No way! Impossible! You can't be the cow! I mean, look at you!"

"Sh-she was never a-a cow!" Neville stuttered, stepping next to me. He was scared as hell, and yet he still stood up for me.

"Stay out of this, Longbottom!" Draco snarled at my defender, taking a step towards him. I took Neville's hand and stepped face to face with Draco.

"Draco, I told you at the end of last year that you weren't going to mess with me anymore," I muttered at him, making sure my voice was as cold as my eyes. "Stay away from me. And stay away from Neville as well."

I dragged Neville and myself out of the greenhouse and walked to the front door of the castle. I put his face in my hands and gave him a big kiss on the cheek.

"You stood up for me," I told him, answering his quizzical look. "No one's ever done that. Thank you."

"Well, you stood up for me," he pointed out, his face turning red. "Wait, does this mean we're ditching class?"

"Hm...you're right...should we go back?" I asked, and he smiled.

"We probably should," he said. "I really don't want to get into any trouble, especially on the first day and after I earned Gryffindor 10 points. That's a first for me."

I laughed and squeezed his hand. I could see that Neville was gaining confidence ever since he made friends with me, and I felt warm inside. Suddenly, someone was pulling my hair backwards, dragging me into the castle. Neville yelled after me, but tripped on his own two feet. My captor and I disappeared into the castle and down into the stairs towards the dungeons. Whoever it was, slammed me into the wall and pinned me there. It almost knocked the wind out of me.

"I have had enough of you screwing around with me," a cold voice said sinisterly. I could recognize that voice anywhere. "Just because you were once the cow doesn't mean I wouldn't want you now. Sure it was a little shocking at first, but then I look at you now and the past doesn't matter. How does it feel to be Slytherin's new princess?"

I narrowed my eyes at Draco.

"Keep dreaming," I whispered to him. "And I am not the princess. I am the queen."

I pushed him off of me, and strutted away, once again, leaving him flustered.

~()~

**A/N: Well, I've rewritten this chapter, just like the past two. It needed to be edited. I feel like such an improved writer now, after all this time, and it feels good to see that improvement. I hope you guys liked this chapter, and like the chapters after this as well. Tell me your thoughts!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Slytherin**

**Chapter 4**

**Presents**

**~()~**

Today felt like a curl day. Nobody else would be awake for another hour, so I guess I had enough time to style my hair perfectly. I pulled a few strands of hair from either side of my face and pulled them back behind my head, pinning them in place. I curled the rest of the hair that hung loosely around my head. I observed myself in the mirror. Beautiful. I couldn't have said the same thing a year ago. Back then, I would try my best to avoid looking in mirrors. They only showed my worst fears. I pulled out my little silver make-up bag and began to apply it to my face, trying my best to enhance my beauty even more.

Even though everyone knew who I was, nothing changed. All the Slytherins still wanted to be near me, even the Prince. My memories of the past were just nightmares now.

I looked down at myself to find I was still in my pj's. Maybe it would've been a better idea if I had changed my clothes and then done my hair. What a scatter brain I was.

It was the weekend, so I was allowed to wear whatever I pleased. I opened my trunk to find something. I heaved out a pair of regular blue jeans, a dark blue tank top that was just short enough on me, and a grey half-jacket. It was casual and comfortable. I slipped on a pair of black boots that were hiding under my four-poster. I returned to the mirror, and was satisfied with the fact that my hair was still perfectly intact.

I walked out of the dorms and out of the common room, making my way up to the castle. Through the stain glass windows, I could see that the sun was rising ever so slightly into the sky, turning everything around it purple and pink. I walked over to the door and pulled it open. A gust of cool, fresh air blew passed my face. I could smell pine needles and the lake. Looking down at the lake, a black figure caught my eye. Someone was sitting on the banks of the lake and just watching. Watching for what, I didn't know. It wasn't until the sun glinted off of his hair did I realize who it was. A wave of goose bumps washed over me like a tidal wave. Damn him for being so sexy.

I wondered what he was thinking about, but my thoughts were stopped when I heard a familiar voice calling my name from behind.

"Paige!" Neville called out cheerfully. He looked really happy. "What're you doing up so early?"

I shrugged and replied with, "This is the best part of the day. And I could ask you the same question."

Small sums of students began descending down the staircase, and I knew they were headed for the Great Hall for some breakfast.

"Want some breakfast?" he asked happily, holding his hand out. Holding hands is usually a couple thing, but with Neville it was different; it was like a sign of the connection we shared. Plus it made Draco even madder. I nodded to him and accepted his outstretched hand. We parted ways when we entered the hall, Neville to the Gryffindor table and me to the Slytherin table. Moments after I had taken my seat, Draco parked his sexy little ass on my left side. He said nothing, so I said nothing. I wanted him to say something to me; we hadn't spoken since Herbology the day before. I was starting to become irritated when someone began tapping my shoulder.

"Excuse me?" A nervous little Hufflepuff said to me. I turned to him, with a bored expression on my face. He was holding a small box in his hands.

"Yeah, yeah, what do you want?" I demanded gruffly. Draco paid no attention. He still seemed lost in thought.

"I was told to deliver this package to you," he mumbled quietly, looking away from my face and handing me the box. I took it cautiously, and the little Hufflepuff disappeared. I saw Draco staring at me from the corners of his eyes. The package only had one word scribbled neatly on the top: Paige. It was wrapped in brown paper, but had a light pink ribbon tied around it, forming a bow on top. I gently opened the package, careful not to rip anything. Underneath the paper was a simple white box. I pulled off the lid, and inside was a thin silver bracelet, resting on a small pink cushion. Vigilantly, I lifted it up. At the end of it hung a little green jewel, the same shade as my eyes.

Draco seemed to be holding his breath next to me. I could feel he was tense, making me smile a little bit. I turned to him, cradling it in my hand.

"Could you do me a favor, Draco?" I asked him politely. "Could you put this on me, please? It will only take a second."

He glared at me, but did as I asked.

"Thanks," I said to him, and held it up in the light. I admired its beauty, but mainly did it to piss him off some more. Oddly enough, he didn't seem to care at all. He just poked his scrambled eggs with his fork, until he stood up and left the room.

Figuring that he needed to be taunted some more, I followed him out of the hall.

"What's wrong, Draco?" I asked him, making my lip pout. "Somebody jealous?"

He didn't say anything until we were out in the hallway.

"It's nothing to do with you, Paige," he said angrily, turning towards me.

"Sure it doesn't," I said, grinning lightly. He didn't respond at all after that, so I just told him I'd see him later.

I turned around to go back in the hall, but stopped at the door.. I glanced behind me to see that he was gone, most likely back down the dungeons. I didn't want to talk to anyone right now.

Pansy came storming up the stairs from the dungeons, looking very disgruntled. I groaned.

"Paige!" she squealed to me unhappily. "Do you know what Draco just did?"

That got my attention. "What?"

"He was swearing and yelling very loudly," she began to explain in a huff. "I asked him what was wrong, and he said, 'That bloody bitch.'"

I grinned to myself. So I was annoying him after all. "He said that?"

"Ahuh!" she nodded her head exuberantly. "I wonder who he was talking about."

"Me," I informed her bluntly.

"Good lord, why don't you just go out with him?" she demanded, rolling her eyes.

"Because," I began, folding my arms. "That's not part of my game."

She stared at me, curiously, having no idea what I was talking about.

~()~

I was alone in the common room, when Paul Jolkins walked in. Paul was a very attractive guy, not like Draco, of course. He smiled at me, with that look in his eyes. That look that every guy gets when he sees something that he wants. I patted the chair next to me, signaling for him to sit down. He graciously accepted my offer. Slipping his arm around my shoulders as he took a seat, he cuddled right up to me and fit like a puzzle piece.

"Hey Paige," he said with a smirk. This guy's smirk was nothing compared to the Prince. "What're you doing out here all alone?"

"Waiting for you, I guess," I said, returning his smile.

We both turned our heads as we heard someone climbing down the stairs from the boy's dorms. As soon as I saw it was who I was really waiting for, I stuck myself to Paul like a fly on flypaper. We began snogging right there on the spot. Paul rolled back onto me, trapping me in-between him and the cushions. I was hoping to have my first kiss with the Prince, but I does this technically count as a first kiss?

"Alright, that's it!" I heard Draco roar.

Suddenly, Paul was off of me and on the floor, getting the crapped kicked out of him by Draco's foot. Though I did enjoy this scene very much, I knew I had to stop him before Paul really got hurt. I pushed Draco away, making a fake-angry face at him.

"What's your deal, Malfoy?" I snarled at him.

I must've sounded tremendously pissed, because Draco took a step back. I shouted out in disgust, and walked up the stairs to the girl's dorms. As soon as the door was closed, I busted out into laughter. The other three in the room looked at me strangely, but I ignored them. The scene downstairs was hilarious. I could not believe that Draco fell for that. It was priceless.

I didn't go downstairs to the common room until about midnight. I was hoping everyone was asleep. All of the girls in my dorm didn't say a word to me when they all came in. The room got awkwardly quiet. I grew tired of it, and crept down the stairs. Draco was lying on the couch with his back turned to me. I went over to the couch and sat in front of his torso.

"Ah, Paige!" he said slyly, and kicked his legs up so he was sitting properly. He made himself comfortable in the corner of the chair. "Been waiting for you to come down here."

I guess he was back to his normal, cocky-ass self. Today's fight must've given him a confidence boost.

"I just came down to," I paused and cuddled up close to him. "Congratulate you." He looked down at me, curiously.

"I realized that you must really care about me, enough to beat any guy that looked at me to a pulp." I was toying with him again. He narrowed his eyes, but then decided that it was safe.

He put his arm around my shoulder. I began playing with his silky smooth hair, curling it in my finger, and letting it lose.

"And what's my prize?" he asked, rubbing his finger up and down my shoulder. I was thoughtful for a moment, and then I looked at him devilishly. I stood up and straddled his legs while I draped my arms around his neck.

"I like this," he said, smirking. I smirked right back at him.

"I've been waiting three years to do this, Draco," I said playfully. His smirk got even bigger.

To his surprise, he didn't get what he was expecting. Instead, he got punched right in the nose. I jumped off of him as he fell and curled up into a ball on the floor. He held his nose and was moaning in pain. I kneeled down next to him and smiled.

"The bitch is still here," I informed him, and walked back up to the girl's dorms.


	5. Chapter 5

**Slytherin**

**Chapter 5**

**The Introduction of the Freak**

**~()~**

The students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang had already arrived, and the Goblet of Fire, Dumbledore's impartial judge, was in the Great Hall, waiting for seventeen year olds to enter their name into it. Many students had unsuccessfully tried to put their names in it, but were stopped by the age line. The Weasley twins managed to get passed it, by use of an aging potion. In the end, their names were blasted back at them and each were given magnificent beards.

Another package arrived for me today, the third one this week. Two days ago, it was the bracelet. Yesterday, it was a matching necklace. Today, earrings. Who the hell is sending me all this stuff? I knew it wasn't Draco. He wouldn't get so pissed off every time I got a new present.

I was sitting in the common room doing my transfiguration assignment, when someone told me about the most recent package.

"Yo, Paige!" a third year boy yelled as he walked into the common room, clutching a small green box in his hands. "Another package from your stalker."

He tossed it onto my lap and I looked up, annoyed.

"He's not my stalker," I stated matter-of-factly, setting my book lightly on the table. "He's clearly a, a quiet admirer from afar."

"Whatever you say," he said cynically, winking and grinning as he walked away.

I rolled my eyes and opened the small box, which revealed the small, green earrings.

Ok, maybe he IS a stalker, but it's not like he's caused me any trouble...yet.

It was Wednesday, meaning Potions with Ravenclaw, Care of Magical Creautes with Hufflepuff, and divination with Gryffindor, so I headed off alone down the corridors that led to the Potions classroom, and it was dissonantly empty. The sun streamed bright and cheery in through the stained glass windows, but I still felt anxious to get to class.

I heard footsteps from behind me and quickly I turned around in hopes of finding another student, only to find that no one was there. The only sound I heard were the murmur of voices from other corridors and my footsteps echoing off the stone walls. I heard something fall from behind me and jumped, only to see that it was a bird, crashing into the window.

"Ugh," I moaned to myself, holding my hazy head in my hands. "I've got to shake this."

I've been paranoid all day ever since I got those earrings. Now I think there's someone around every corner. And a minute later, I found out there was.

Someone clamped their hand over my mouth, refusing to let me utter out a single cry of surprise. They pulled me under some sort of cloak or blanket and wrapped their arm around my waist, pushing me into their body.

"Hello, Paige," An eerie voice greeted.

He moaned and began to rock from side to side, rubbing my stomach with his hand. Fear had paralyzed my body and my mind. I couldn't move anything I was so scared.

I felt myself beginning to hyperventilate, and he tightened his hold on me.

"Shh, shh shh shh shh," he quieted me. "No need to be afraid. You never have to be afraid when you're in my arms."

I spotted someone from under the blanket; a Ravenclaw boy, probably heading down to potions. I tried to cry out, but his hand muffled them so they were only pitiful whimpers; but it still managed to catch his attention. He turned around and looked curiously at the exact spot I was standing at. But he never saw me. I was irritated by this; he didn't see a mass of blankets standing in the hallway? He shrugged and continued on his way, muttering something about Peeves.

"Oh," he said sadly, resting his head on my shoulder. Chills went down my spine. I managed to see a mess of brownish hair. "Don't cry, don't cry. Angels don't cry. Ah, I see you're wearing my presents. That makes me so happy, only because they made you happy…"

He turned his head toward me, and I missed his face by a fraction of a second. He began kissing my neck and moaning again, so I adjusted my shoulder to stop him. But he only chuckled and said, "You don't want it there? Ok, how about here."

He turned me around and put his hand over my eyes. Using his other hand, he grabbed my lower back and thrusted my body into his. He smashed his lips against mine and kissed me hungrily. I screamed as best as I could, once again only getting pathetic muffled whimpers out. I used my arms to push him away, but he was strong. I could hear him chuckling again, as if my pain was his pleasure. I managed to get my mouth away from his and let out a powerful yelp. He slapped my face.

"Hello?" I heard a familiar voice call out. The freak let go of my eyes and covered my mouth, turning me around once again. He leaned into my ear again.

"Shhhhh..." he said quietly so that only I could hear. He nibbled on my ear a little bit, and I pulled my head away from him.

I saw Draco looking around, confused. Suddenly realizing that my feet were free, I began stomping my foot on the ground, creating massive thumps. The Freak painfully tightened his grip on my waist, forcing me to stop. Draco took a step closer and closer, but the freak took a step farther and farther away. The Freak messed up; you could hear our footsteps on the stone floor. Draco stopped, suddenly, and wet his lips. He seemed to be thinking about something, when he dove forward, only managing to catch my feet. The Freak let go of me, and I came crashing down. The blanket disappeared off of me, and I looked around to see if he was still there. But of course, there was no one. I looked down at Draco, and he was staring back at me in shock.

"Where'd you come from?" he inquired.

I couldn't say anything. I was too freaked out from what had just happened. Draco's eyes got wider.

"Bloody hell," he said. "You're shaking. Are you ok? What happened?"

I looked at my hands and they were shaking as if I had my own personal little earthquake. He let go of my feet and rested himself on his knees. I stared at him for a second, and then dove at him, catching him in a terrified embrace. At first, he did nothing, but then he gradually slipped his arms around me, as if they were meant to be there… I was gasping for air again, and tears were leaking down my face.

"I...I don't know..." was all I managed to whisper. "God, what the hell? Why am I crying?"

Course I knew exactly why I was crying. But I couldn't let Draco know that, now could I? I jumped out of his arms and began wiping the tears off of my face. I was showing weakness to Draco.

"Paige, what happened?" he asked, looking at me surprised. He reached out a hand to pull me into another hug, but I crawled away.

"Oh, it was just, um." I was silent; trying to think of an excuse to tell him. I took a sudden interest in the wooden floors and the taste of my lips. "I was ta-trying out a new spa-spell and it kind of backfired on me."

He looked at me skeptically and I nodded my head assertively to reassure him.

"If I didn't know any better," he began, standing up and crossing his arms with that SMIRK on his face. "You were snogging with someone under an invisibility cloak and he broke your heart. A little fiasco to make me jealous."

"What?" I yelled at him, forgetting all my fear at his challenge. "That is not at all what happened! It was a spell, and it backfired, and it hurt. That was it. End of story. Involves no mystery guys. And it especially does not involve you."

"Right," he said with a cheeky smile and turned around to continue his journey down to the dungeons.

Ugh, that boy infuriates me so! But…at least he did not find out what really happened.

~()~

I skipped out on going to potions; just too distressed up by today's previous events.

I couldn't believe it, I just couldn't believe it. This guy literally was a stalker. He was...terrifying. Everything about him made my skin crawl; the way he breathed on me, smelled me, looked at me, and especially the way he touched me. I felt the necklace around my neck, and then tore it off, throwing it on the floor in the girl's dormitories. The bracelet and earrings followed soon after.

I just needed a little while to gather my thoughts, so I took off towards the lake and occupied a nearby rock that overlooked the swirling water and the giant squid.

I didn't know how long I had been sitting there for, but I knew it must have been a while, because I heard Neville calling my name.

"Paige!" he greeted cheerfully, waving his hand in the air. "Paige, why weren't you in divination today? I was, er, worried."

I smiled at him half-heartedly, and he knew something was wrong.

"Tell me," he demanded, crawling onto the rock with a determined look on his face. He slipped and fell onto the ground, but got up as if nothing happened, like it was no big deal.

I leaned my head onto his shoulder and smacked my hand onto my forehead.

"It's a really long story," I muttered, looking up at him. He looked a little nervous.

"Wa-well, I'm your, er, your friend, aren't I, Paige?" he asked avoiding my gaze and grabbing my other hand. "For you, I have all the time in the world."

For the first time since my friendship with him, my heart fluttered. I brushed it off and told him everything that happened, even the part with Draco being...Draco.

"Oh my god..." he muttered to himself, shaking his head and raising his fists into the air. "You sure you had no idea who the guy was? Because if so, I'll, I'll..." His voice trailed off, lowering his fists dejectedly.

"Don't worry about me, Neville," I said, smiling at him gratefully and pulling him into a quick hug. "You're a great friend, you know. Not that I would know. I don't exactly have very many...or had very many, for that matter."

"Neither have I," he said with a bashful grin.

"What about Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger?" I began, tilting my head to the side in confusion. "Or Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan? You look like you get along fine with those guys."

"I don't know..." he began quietly with a shrug. "I always feel left out by them, or, when I am with them, I always feel that they would rather be with someone else. I mean, they're all great and really nice, but they all have their own sort of group. I don't really belong anywhere."

"Yes you do," I said, standing up and gripping both of his hands in mine. "You belong with me. We're the misfits of Gryffindor and Slytherin. Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

He chuckled at me and then said, "You know, I think I just cheered you up. I've never done that before."

"Your first accomplishment," I told him firmly.

I turned my head and saw the sun setting. I didn't realize it was getting so late.

"Almost time for dinner," Neville commented, smiling at me. "Best be getting inside then, hm?"

"Yeah, come on," I said, dragging him off the rock and back towards school. "Let's go eat."

~()~

**Once again, this chapter has been edited and rewritten as well. Although I didn't have to change much here. Just tell me your thoughts on this chapter, and I will update with a new chapter soon enough. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own any Harry Potter characters, except the ones of my own creation. The ones that have never once been mentioned in any of the Harry Potters. Yep. Those are mine. **

CHECK THE AUTHOR'S NOTE BEFORE YOU READ!

"I ha-ha-hate October!" Draco mumbled, shivering as he took his usual seat beside me in the Great Hall.

I had to agree with him there; there were only four days till Halloween, and it was already thirty degrees outside. Most of the students (including myself) were not pleased. They had even taken to wearing their scarves and gloves around to classes.

"Suck it up, Draco," Paul Jolkins yelled from across the table, throwing a piece of bread at him. "Be a man, like me."

He winked at me, and I rolled my eyes.

"If I were a man like you, I'd be gay," he retorted, sending the same piece of bread torpedoing towards his head, via magic.

I smirked and continued eating my roasted pork until I heard Pansy talking about the Slytherin's annual Halloween party.

"I'm going as a devil this year!" she bragged, describing her slutty costume in great and obnoxious detail.

Of course, I had known all along about the party, but never had attended it myself. I usually spent my Halloween nights reading 'scary stories,' like The Tale of Randal Goshak, by Jorgin Lolligins. It's a story of a wizard, obviously Randal Goshak, who gets hunted down by an unknown magical force. It wasn't really scary; more of a suspense/thriller.

The sound of Pansy's nasally voice woke me up from my thoughts.

"Well, Paige?" she asked me, looking rather smug. "Are you going to go to the party this year?"

"I'm thinking about it," I said nonchalantly. "But I don't have a costume."

"You could borrow one from me!" she squealed, clearly excited at the idea of playing dress up.

I cringed. I knew about her previous costumes; she would always flaunt them in the girl's dorms…and in the guy's dorms.

"No thanks," I said, shaking my head. "I don't want to reveal more of my body than necessary. If I do go, I'm sure I could figure out something."

I glanced down at Draco who was grinning to himself, thinking only God knows what.

"Excuse me," a deep, Bulgarian accented voice called out. "But, vould you mind if I joined you?"

I turned around curiously to see one of the students from Durmstrang standing perfectly straight, waiting for something. He was tall and massive; almost like a body builder. He had fine dark brown hair that was cut very short, and he had a small goatee forming around his mouth. It took me a minute to realize that he had been talking to me. I had almost forgotten about the foreign students here at Hogwarts, what with the creepy stalkers attacking me, Neville, and Draco. Not wanting to seem rude, I told him it was alright. And then Draco interrupted.

"Actually, I mind," he stated, rising out of his seat and starring at him, irritated. Crabbe and Goyle stood up behind him to back the green Slytherin up.

"Oh, vell I apologize then," he said, bowing slightly and looking slightly embarrassed. "I did not realize that you were courting her."

"He is NOT courting me," I said, scooting over and patting the seat next to me, which was vacated by the first year who had been sitting there previously. "Please, have a seat."

"No, that is alright," he said, giving me a grateful look. "I vould not like to start a feud vith anyvone here in this school."

He walked back to where his friends were sitting, but not without giving Draco a small smile. His friends patted him on the back and glared at Draco, who looked rather smug.

"Nice, Draco," I said, agitated. "Very nice. A real gentlemen."

I rolled my eyes and stood up, figuring that this was as good a time as any to go back to the dorms and sleep, but before I could do that, someone grabbed me by my wrist and pulled me out into the hall. I panicked, thinking it was the Freak, but then relaxed once again when I saw it was the Prince.

"Hey, Paige," he said, once we had stopped in the deserted entrance hall. He leaned up casually onto the wall and smirked down at me. "Just asking what you're really going to wear to the party so that we could match."

"What makes you think I am going to go?" I asked, narrowing my eyes and staring him down. "And that I'm going with you, for that matter?"

"I thought we went through this, Paige," he stated in fake disappointment, his smirk getting wider. "I'm the Prince and you're the Princess."

He took a step closer towards me and I backed away, getting annoyed at his cockiness.

"And haven't I explained that that's not how it works?" I shot back at him, crossing my arms. "A queen doesn't do anything with a lowly PRINCE."

I turned around to escape the god's grasp, but was once again stopped by him pulling on my arm. I turned around and sighed, ready to demand what the heck was wrong with him, when he looked at me without any coldness in his eyes. Well, to be fair there wasn't any warmth, either, but this was still a step up for him. The words I were about to say got stuck in my throat. His piercing eyes stared at me with the utmost sincerity.

"Will you be my date for that Halloween party?" he asked me, placing his hands on my shoulders, and closing the gap between us.

This was a side of him I had never seen before. This side sent severe shivers up and down my spine. This side was...different.

"I, I, uh," I couldn't get the words out. Now that he asked me, and actually asked me, I wanted to scream the words yes at him, but I couldn't get them out.

"Please, Paige?" he asked again, almost desperately. "I know I seem like a jerk, but, you know just as well as I do, maybe even more, that you have to act like a complete ass hole to be respected in this house. I know that you're not really like this, and neither am I. So, at least consider my offer."

He gave me one last tear-jerking look, and then let go of me and headed down the stairway to the dungeons.

I called out to him before he descended down, and he stopped and turned around, his face the same as it had been a few seconds ago. I ran over to him and took his hand.

"Of course I'll go with you," I said, relieved that I had finally found my voice again.

"Great!" he said overconfidently as he wrapped his arm over my shoulder. "So I'm thinking we could go as Voldemort and Bellatrix. That would make an impact, wouldn't it? But you would have to wear something more sexy-"

I pushed his arm off of me and groaned in disgust at him. I should've known that he was only pretending.

"I can't believe you!" I cried out and ran down the steps.

"Does that mean we're not going together anymore?" he yelled down.

Is that REALLY all he cares about?

"No!" I yelled back at him.

"No we're not going together, or no we are going together?"

I didn't answer him, but giggled the rest of my way down. I don't mind leaving him clueless.

********

"Annual Gryffindor scary movie night? On Halloween?" I asked Neville nervously.

We were sitting on our rock, backs up against each other, and I was hugging my knees to my chest.

"Well, technically, it's the first annual," he corrected, playing with his maroon and gold neck tie. "But you get the idea. We decided to do it this year, right after the three champions are chosen. But if a Gryffindor wins, then I'm sure we'll throw a huge party. Either way, you can still come. I'd, um, really like it if...you were...there."

There was an awkward pause between us as I thought about what to say to the super sweet boy. I love Neville, but as a brother, and nothing more...at least I don't think. If that's true, then why do I feel so terrible for turning him down?

"I want to, Neville, really do," I began miserably. "But Draco already invited me to the Slytherin Halloween party. And I said yes."

I could feel his shoulders slump dejectedly behind me.

"Oh," he mumbled, and then whipped around suddenly. "Wait, I thought you would hate Draco."

He sounded mad. I turned around to see his face in a scowl; an emotion I had never seen on him before.

"I mean, after all he's done to you and," he paused an avoided me gaze. "And done to me, you still like him?"

"Oh come on Neville," I began, lying down on the rock. "He's, Draco Malfoy. The Slytherin Prince. I have had a crush on him ever since I became a Slytherin. I mean, who could not? He's gorgeous and sort of a bad boy. A lot of girls like that."

"He called you a cow," he reminded me, turning around so that he faced the lake. The squid lifted a tentacle, making a large ripple throughout the water. "He's made fun of you and of me. Can't you see that I can't look passed that?"

"Neville," I began, reaching for his hand, but was rejected. He pulled his hand away from mine and began storming back up towards the castle.

"Come back here!" I demanded, but he didn't turn around.

He simply shouted back, childishly, "No."

I ran up beside him and tried to stop him from entering the castle by grabbing his hand and pulling him down. I managed to fall down onto the ground on top of him. It was uncomfortable, but at least it got him laughing. I rolled onto my side right next to him and we both laughed as we saw the sun set behind the Forbidden Forest. And suddenly, I had an idea.

"What time do you think the ceremony will last till?" I asked him, turning onto my stomach so I could look at his face properly.

He shrugged his shoulders and said, "I dunno. Probably not very long. It starts at four, right? Then I'd say about five or six."

"And what time are you guys going to put the movie on?" I continued to interrogate the Gryffindor boy.

"Nine, I think," he said thoughtfully, and then nodded his head to confirm it.

"Alright then," I said confidently. "I will go to both. The Slytherin Halloween party starts at 7, and goes on all night. I'll leave at about 8:30 and meet you in front of your dorms at about 9. Sound like a plan?"

"Oh-ok," he said, still looking gloomy. "I guess I could live with that."

I assumed it was alright with him because it meant that I wouldn't be...DOING anything.

"Brilliant," I exclaimed with a grin. "Where do you want me to meet you?"

"By the entrance to the Grand Staircase would be fine."

"Alright, it's a date!" I announced, and quickly regretted it. He had totally taken it the wrong way.

He looked up at me with hopeful eyes and asked, "Really?"

"Oh Neville, you know what I mean," I answered, rolling my eyes. I grinned at him playfully, and he didn't look too disappointed.

********

"I've decided what we're going as," I announced, taking a seat next to Draco in the common room. The light from the lake reflected off of his pale face as he looked up at me, smirking.

His feet were propped up on a pillow and the rest of his body was lying flat on the long, black leather couch. He lazily put his hands behind his head as if he were on vacation and looking out on a tropical beach. The tropical beach being me.

"Really," he began with interested, raising his eyebrow. "So we are going together, huh?"

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. Boys.

"Yes," I continued, pushing his feet off the couch and taking their place. "And we are going as, Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask!"

His smirk disappeared and his eyebrows creased skeptically.

"Sailor Moon...and Tuxedo Mask?" he repeated, turning his head to the side, obviously not impressed. "Who the hell are Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask?"

"Oh come on," I groaned, hugging my knees into my chest. "You know, that old muggle TV show, Sailor Moon? It was a classic!"

He shook his head, showing that he did not know.

"Stay here, I'll get a picture," I commanded, and ran upstairs to the girl's dorm, returning only a few seconds later. He still resided on the couch.

I showed him the picture of Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask at a ball and dancing around together. Draco started laughing.

"It's a bloody cartoon!" he said through his fits.

I scowled at him, but then got an idea. I snuggled up close to him, like I had months earlier, and put on my cutest face.

"I think the Tuxedo Mask costume is really sexy," I said with a Cheshire cat smile. "And Sailor Moon's is so pretty. We'll look fantastic together. And, you know, I could always make the dress shorter."

Oh yeah. I was going to wear the pants in this relationship.

He looked at me, clearly trying to resist, but I made his desire worse by petting the back of his head and leaning in closer to him. He caved.

"Alright, alright," he said, throwing his hands up in surrender, and then placing them around my shoulders. "As long as you don't do your hair like that, and you need to make some costume adjustments."

"Ok," I said with a devilish smile.

Ha. I had won. I let him keep his arms around me until Pancy came in and asked him to 'help her with her potions essay.'

A/N: ta da! Yeah, I know it's been awhile, but I finally updated!! Woohoo! I just got in the mood to continue this one, quite randomly, actually. Tell me what you think! Also, remember to go back to the last chapter and read the changes on that, otherwise you might have gotten a tad confused in this one.


	7. Chapter 7

I don't know how I did it, but I managed to get myself into the most awkward and uncomfortable position in my life. No, it's not anything like THAT, you pervs! It was just that I had Neville Longbottom on my right, holding my hand and Draco Malfoy on my left, with his arm around my waist. I had never been so self-conscious in my entire life.

How did I get myself into this position? Well, it's a long story...

"Happy Halloween!" Pansy yelled obnoxiously, followed by a long yawn. "And Happy Day-The-Tri-Wizard-Champions-Are-Chosen!"

"Ugh, Pansy, shut up!" one of the other girls in the room moaned, throwing a pillow at her.

She let out a yelp and fell back down into her pillow, and the room burst out into fits of giggles.

"It's not even seven yet!" I groaned, rubbing my eyes and sitting up.

My costume was hanging in on the bar above my four-poster, swaying slightly because of the black heater in the center of the room. I smiled at it, and felt butterflies fly through my stomach at the thought of dancing with Draco in it. Of course, it was shorter than when I bought it; it originally went down to my ankles, and now only goes barely passed my knees. I kept my promise to him.

"Time to get ready girls," Sasha Leonard announced from her bed, head still in pillow and eyes still shut. "It's Saturday, and Halloween. We don't want to be missing out on all of today's events."

We all nodded our heads in agreement, but other than that, nobody moved. Everyone was too tired, until we heard something crash from downstairs in the common room. I shot up and put my robe on and my wand in my pocket, checking in my mirror to make sure I looked somewhat decent, and ran down the stairs to see what the commotion was all about. Everybody followed suit.

When we reached our destination, we didn't see anything. Only a lamp had crashed to the floor, but that was it.

I sighed, and pulled my wand out and muttered the incantation, "Reparo." The lamp magically put itself together, piece by piece, and Pansy set it back onto the end table next to the green couch.

"Well that was odd," she mumbled. "I wonder what made it fall over?"

"Hey ladies," someone said from the boy's staircase. "Lookin' good."

We all turned around to see the fourth year boys standing in their pajamas (and when I say pajamas, I mean no shirt and boxers or sweatpants. Only two had a shirt on; Crabbe and Goyle. Thank God.). At the top of the stairs, making his way down was Draco. I shivered at his muscular pale body, which was, sadly, being covered up by his green silk robe. He smirked when he saw we were all at the bottom in our skimpy pajamas. Most of us were wearing shorts and a tank top, despite the cold weather and the fact that we were in the dungeons. I was the only one who didn't "forget" to grab a robe.

"Pajama party?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow, causing a couple of the girls (not me) to giggle.

I crossed my arms and leaned casually onto the end table.

"I'm guessing you're here to investigate the crash?" I asked, and they all nodded their heads.

They took this as an open invitation to join us, and surround the small group of girls that were there.

"Well, what was it?" one of the boys asked.

"Something just knocked over the lamp," Pansy explained, gesturing towards the newly fixed lamp. "Paige fixed it."

Suddenly, there was a moan coming from underneath the couch. All the girls squealed and jumped back as a boy came crawling out from underneath it.

"Ugh, my head," he cried. He looked up at us and blinked. "Hey guys!"

"Jeremiah?" Paul Jolkins asked, making his way over to him. "What the hell Jeremiah? What are you doing down here so early? Was it you who broke the lamp?"

"I, uh, I..." he was a thoughtful as he tried to recall what had happened. "Honestly, I don't remember. It was a blur, a blur of something. It, it had something to do with you, Paige."

He looked up at me curiously, resting his hand on his head. Then he blinked and added, "I think."

We all shrugged off, agreeing that he must've drank too much pumpkin juice or had snuck in some liquor, and returned to get dressed. There were more exciting events that were about to happen. Although, the event seemed to cling to me for the rest of the day...

********

I was walking to the Great Hall at about nine o'clock, the time when the three champions were finally going to be chosen, when I had bumped into none other than Harry Potter himself. At first, I didn't know it was him until I had turned around to confront him about it.

"Oh, geez, excuse me!" he apologized quickly just as I turned around to glare at him or something else that a Slytherin would have done.

I immediately notice the lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead, and my face grew soft; partly because he was one of Neville's friends, and partly because Draco hated his guts.

"No worries," I said, sticking my hand out for him to shake. "Paige Hollands. Slytherin."

"Oh, are you the friend that Neville's been going on about?" he asked with a cheeky grin as he shook my hand. "And I'm Harry Potter."

I rolled my eyes and chuckled.

"I know," I said bashfully, feeling embarrassed about the fact that Neville talked about me to his friends. "Speaking of Neville, have you seen him?"

He shook his head and said, "No. He was still in the common room last time I saw him. He was reading a book that Professor Moody gave him today. A book about plants."

"_Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean. _Yeah, I know.He hasn't stopped going on about that book," I said with a smile. "I suppose that's two things he goes on about, hm?"

He nodded his head in agreement, and was shoved into me once again by the students that were trying to cram themselves in for a good seat. Harry immediately stepped back off of me.

"Ugh, I hate people," I said shaking my head as he opened his mouth to apologize. "Don't worry about it."

"Paige!" I heard the familiar, cheerful call of my name as Neville's form emerged from the crowd. "Hey, Paige!"

"Hi Neville," I said, giving him a quick hug and grabbing his hand. "Harry here's just been telling me about how much you read that book that Moody gave you. Bookworm."

The tips of his ears turned pink as I teased him.

"So, are you, um, going to sit by us today?" he asked quickly, trying to get off the subject.

"I don't know, I think I might-"

I was cut off by the cold words of the prince.

"What the hell are you doing with, POTTER?" Draco spit out his last name dripping with venom. He slithered his hand around my waist and pulled me close to him, as if I was his possession. "Do you need me to take care of him for you? I could always find a boggart and make it change into a dementor."

"Shove off, Malfoy," Harry shot back, stepping closer to the slightly shorter blond-haired boy. "What, no cronies today? Did you give them the day off, or did they get lost?"

"I don't need Crabbe and Goyle to teach you a lesson, Potter," he threatened, reaching slowly into his pocket to grab his wand, and Harry did likewise.

"Stop it, the two of you!" I yelled out angrily, stepping in between the two of them. I was kind of happy that this had happened, because I had a plan that would drive Draco INSANE.

"Draco, I am going to sit with Harry and Neville today," I told him, a smirk threatening to form at the corners of my mouth as I saw his nose scrunch up and his eyes widen.

My eyes narrowed when he smirked.

"Fine. Then I'll sit with them, as well."

I hadn't been expecting that. My mouth dropped open slightly and I began gaping like a fish out of water as he led me over to where the rest of the Gryffindors were sitting, with Neville being towed right next of me as I refused to let him go. Neville cautiously took the seat on my right, and Harry next to him. We received numerous glares from both Slytherins and the Gryffindors.

And voila. One of the worst moments of my life was occurring right now, next to the two best guys in my life (apart from my dad, of course).

Then an idea hit me. Was he finally trying to show that he actually...CARED…for me? The idea seemed laughable, but I still hoped.

Draco leaned into my ear and whispered as he pointed towards Viktor Krum. "My family's invited him over to our mansion during the summer. You should come, too, Paige."

"I believe the last time you invited me over to your house," I began coldly, pulling his arm off from around me. "It was only to recommend me to a great plastic surgeon that your mother knew."

"Ouch, Paige," he said in mock pain and putting his hand over his heart. "That hurts. Let's not bring up such gloomy times, k? You've changed, and that's all that matters."

I looked at him disgusted. I was tired of him only caring about my looks. I was beginning to think that he liked me for...me.

"Really, Draco? Really?" I demanded, pushing his arm off of me. "Is that really all that matters?"

His eyebrows knitted together as he looked down at me curiously.

"Just go away, Draco," I ordered him, avoiding his gaze. "Go back to your Slytherin posse, and leave me the hell alone."

He leaned away from me, flabbergasted and speechless. He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the Goblet of Fire flaring up and spitting out a half-burnt piece of paper. I had completely oblivious the speech Dumbledore had just given. Dumbledore reached out and grabbed the piece of paper. He read it over real fast then looked up and smiled.

"The champion for Durmstrang," he read aloud. "Will be Viktor Krum."

A storm of applause erupted around the Great Hall. Even I smiled and clapped along. I heard Ron Weasley whisper to Harry, "No surprises there!"

The next two pieces of paper shot and the finally two champions were chosen: Fleur Delacour and Cedric Diggory.

As soon as the roar of the students had died down, Dumbledore started up again. I was surprised Draco hadn't mentioned anything.

"Excellent!" our headmaster exclaimed happily. "Well, we now have our three champions, I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute to a very real-"

But he was cut off by the Goblet flaring up again and shooting out a final piece of paper. The Hall had gone quiet, and everyone was looking at each other nervously. Dumbledore grabbed the paper and read aloud the fourth champion: Harry Potter.

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A/N: can anyone say, awkward? Well, I enjoyed writing this chapter nonetheless. The important thing is that did you guys enjoy it? Tell me your opinions! Leave a review! Reviews = love which = new chapters! *wink, wink, nudge, nudge*


	8. Chapter 8

**DISCLAIMER: Sadly, I do not own any of the characters of Harry Potter. I do, in fact, own Paige and the other characters that you don't recognize. I made up most of this cuz this is, as you all know, a fanfiction and I can do whatever I please because I control it! Muwahahaha! Boy this is a long disclaimer…**

The girl's dorm was awkward as all of the girls prepared for the Halloween Party in silence. After the FOURTH champion was chosen, everyone seemed to be in a daze. As Harry walked across the hall nervously to the trophy room, everyone jeered and booed at him. They were all accusing him of being a cheat, a liar, only looking for more attention. Naturally, most of these comments had come from the Slytherin side of the room. But I knew that Harry had done nothing; the look on his face was pure confusion and...terror.

"Paige, can I borrow your-WHOA," Pansy began, but stopped and gaped at me in surprise. "Y-you're blond?"

"Is that a question," I mused, putting up my newly curled, blond hair into two low pigtails. "Or a declarative statement?"

"A little of both," she retorted, crossing her arms and glaring at me.

"Relax, Pansy," I chuckled. "It's only for my costume. I'm going as Serena from Sailor Moon."

"Sailor Moon?" she asked, raising an eyebrow skeptically. "What is-"

"Never mind," I interrupted her, rolling my eyes and returning to the mirror that I conjured up.

I gazed at the door curiously, with a grin playing at the corners of my mouth as soon as I had heard the pulsing beat from the music downstairs. I guess the party had just begun.

"I still can't believe that POTTER managed to weasel himself into the Tri-Wizard tournament!" Pansy ranted as she admired herself in her very revealing devil costume. It consisted of a very short, red, leather skirt and a matching long-sleeved, belly button top with a very sharp v-neck. "And he LIED about it, too! I mean come _on,_ we all know he did it."

"You're just saying that because you loathe Harry with every fiber of his being," I informed her, standing up and flattening the wrinkles out of my dress. "Or because you're a jealous bitch. One or the other."

Pansy turned around, disgusted, and tried to say something. She gazed down at my dress admiringly, but then at my face furiously. It was fun confusing her.

"What, but, um, how, when, I, um," she muttered incoherently.

"Are you going to be finishing any of those?" I asked, grinning. "Because I have a party to go to with a prince awaiting me anxiously."

She wet her lips, but still had a confused look on her face. I chuckled and headed down the stairs, placing a small white mask around my eyes. Ok, so I didn't look like Serena's identical twin sister, but I think I did a pretty damn good job, if I say so myself.

But before I opened the door at the bottom of the stairs that led to the common room, I heard Pansy yell out incredulously, "You just called Potter by his first name!"

Maybe Pansy should be wearing this blond wig instead of me…

I pushed open the door and was greeted by flashing lights, courtesy of the fairies that were captured and forced into different colored jars placed along the ceiling. At the front of the room, near the fireplace, were the Weird Sisters band, surround by screaming Slytherins and even a couple of boys from Durmstrang.

But none of this was any of my concern. I had one mean, cute Slytherin boy to find. I immediately began searching for him. I really hoped he wasn't still mad at me for saying what I said earlier today. I bit my lip nervously.

And then I spotted a tall black top hat hanging around the refreshment table. I smiled and let out a sigh of relief. I glided across the floor to where he was standing.

"I thought that you stood me up for a second there," I told him, curtseying.

He didn't respond, but simply bowed and held his arm out for me to take. His grey eyes stared out at me from behind his white mask that was almost identical to mine. He led me onto the dance floor just as a slow song came on. But something felt off about him. Normally he would be smirking at me or checking me out, or saying a mean comment about Harry or Neville or something...

I smiled up at him anyways. Maybe he was trying to be nice, and apologize for his previous behavior. I didn't mind at all.

We danced and we twirled and I actually had a really good time. But he never said a word.

"Hey, aren't you going to say something?" I leaned into his ear and asked during the fourth song. Again, nothing. Not even a nod or a head shake. "What's wrong Draco?"

He smirked at me, but I didn't recognize that smirk. It was NOTHING like the smirk that I knew.

I started to back away from him but he grabbed my arm and pulled me back into his body.

"Did you miss me?" he whispered and I instantly knew that the Freak had obtained his own personal bottle of polyjuice potion. It was definitely Draco's body, but not his personality.

I panicked and tried to pull away from him, but he shoved my head into his chest and brushed my hair, shushing me.

"I am very grateful to you for making Draco so mad," he said, forcing me to sway back and forth to the beat of the music. "Because he's upstairs in the boy's dorms sulking, it saved me the trouble from having to perform a binding spell on him. I guess you can say that I am very lucky."

I tried my best to shove my arms between us to pry myself off of him, but I was just too weak. He was suffocating me. I couldn't breathe and I was starting to hyperventilate. Was his goal to kill me? But...why?

"Now that I've finally got you," he cooed. "I'm not letting you go. I know a couple of secret passages around here, and, with such a large group of people around here, it would be so easy to escape this school and take you some place where we could be…_alone. _And if you don't do as I say, I can fly over to your home, where your parents sit and wait, not knowing that their fate is coming. Their names _are___Liam and Donna Hollands, correct?"

In his chest, my eyes grew wide and fearful. He allowed me to look up at him, and leaned forward to kiss me, and I knew there was nothing I could do.

For once in my life, I was regretting ever hurting Draco.

"Step. Away. From. Her," a cold voice rang out, a cold voice that was recognizable anywhere, a voice that stopped the Freak in his tracks.

Hope sprung through me as I turned to look at the Freak's identical twin, costume and everything. Draco had his wand on the back of the Freak's neck, and his eyes, easily visible through the slits of his mask, were wintry and merciless. He was my savior.

"Who the hell are you?" he demanded.

The Freak turned his head slightly so that he could get a good look at his captor, and grinned.

"I thought you were in your room, crying," he taunted, his mouth curling into a sneer. "You missed your chance, buddy. She wants a real man."

Draco snorted and replied, "The only reason she's dancing with you is because she thinks I'm you. Other than, you wouldn't have a chance. And you're avoiding my question."

"What does my name matter to you?" the Freak asked Draco, clearly trying to push his buttons.

"Because I would like to know who is trying to steal my girlfriend away from me," he snarled, buttons being pushed. "And it would make it more fun for me while I'm beating the snot out of you. Once again, step away from her."

"But what if she doesn't want to leave me?" the Freak asked innocently, pulling me closer to him. I my head was cringing away from him.

Draco gazed down at me and his cold eyes flashed. He pushed his wand harder into my captor's neck.

"Draco..." I began slowly, bracing myself for what I was about to tell him. He stopped and looked down at me. "Let him go. I, I do wa-want him."

There was a clatter of wood on marble floor as Draco dropped his wand and stared at me, bewildered.

"Wha-what?" he stuttered, looking at me at narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

"You heard her," the Freak mocked, kicking his wand away from us. "Now leave. You're disturbing _our _time."

Draco slowly bent down and reacquired his forgotten wand. Defeated, he slowly backed up and went away. I closed my eyes painfully, and didn't open them again until I heard Draco speak.

"What, do you think I'm stupid or something?" he yelled, turning around and pointing his wand at the Freak. He shouted, "_Impedimenta!"_

The Freak, not expecting this, was launched backwards into the refreshments table, sending food and butterbeer everywhere. The music stopped, and all heads whipped towards the back of the room, where the launched man was slowly standing back up.

My head, although, was turned in the opposite direction, where Draco was glaring at the figure with his arms crossed and with an ugly expression upon his face. He looked at me, and it softened, looking frankly concerned. The corners of my lips turned up into an impressed smile.

The Freak stood up and pulled out a cloak. He pulled the cloak over his head and he disappeared. The other students tried to dive at where he used to stand, but only caught air. It appeared that he had escaped..._again. _

Draco took a step towards me, and I closed the gap left between us by running to him and hugging him, which caught him off by surprise.

"Is this your way of thanking me?" he chuckled, wrapping his arms around me and completing the embrace. I nodded my head into his warm body, but his index and middle fingers caught my chin, forcing me to look at him. "Because I know a better way."

I grinned and relented happily, allowing him to pull my head closer to his face, closer to his lips.

'This is it,' I thought to myself, heart racing so fast that Madame Pomfrey would have thought I was going to have a heart attack. 'This is the moment that I've dreamed of ever since I laid eyes on the Prince of Slytherin.'

I could feel his breath on my cheek, and feel the whole Slytherin Houses' eyes on the back of my head, the envious glares of the females in the room, and the pounding of my heart.

And then the clock tower struck nine times.

My eyelids shot open as I realized my promise that I made to Neville, and what he said to me when he invited me.

'...I'd, um, really like it if...you were...there...'

"Oh bloody hell! Neville!" I moaned, smacking my head to my forehead and disturbing Draco.

"What? What is it?" he asked concernedly.

"I, I have to go!" I called out to him as I tore off in the opposite direction.

"Wait, shouldn't we go tell Dumbledore about this?" he called back, trying to run after me but getting caught in the crowd.

"Tomorrow morning!" I answered, not turning around. "I promise!"

And with that, I was out the door and up the dungeon stairs to meet Neville, who was standing and waiting for me in the center of the Grand Entrance. He was pacing back and forth rapidly, but stopped when he saw me.

"So sorry I'm late, Neville!" I apologized to him, out of breath. "Some, uh, interesting things happened in there. I'll tell you later. I hope I'm not too, heh, overdressed?"

"You look fine to me, blondie," he teased, grabbing my hand and flipping a piece of my now disheveled blond hair. I glared at I'm in a teasing way, and the two of us descended up the stairs to wherever the Gryffindor common room was.

At the top of the dungeons staircase, Draco gazed up sadly, as the two ran happily up the stairs. He didn't understand why she was so attached to Neville Longbottom, the raving Gryffindor buffoon. He and his fellow Slytherins always made fun of him...

'But maybe that's why she likes him,' he thought in realization. 'Because we treated him so poorly, she befriended him, as if to make up for the past 3 and a half years. And maybe, that's why I like _her_ so much...'

Draco turned around, smiling to himself, and went back to the party to answer some of the millions of questions that the other students will be asking. He could probably make up that it was just somebody messing with him, trying to steal his girl. It was partially true.

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A/N: Now I want your god honest opinion of this chapter. Did it end kind of weak? Did you like it? Hate it? Tell me! Comments = love!


	9. Chapter 9

**DISCLAIMER: Sadly, I do not own any of the characters of Harry Potter. I do, in fact, own Paige and the other characters that you don't recognize. I made up most of this cuz this is, as you all know, a fanfiction and I can do whatever I please because I control it! Muwahahaha! Boy this is a long disclaimer…**

"Wow, this is, er, festive," I said, overwhelmed, as I slipped off the blindfold that Neville had placed over my eyes (the only way that the other Gryffindors would allow me to come, as I was told).

The Gryffindor common room was overly celebratory, its only competitor being the Great Hall during the Halloween feast. Paper bats were charmed to fly around the room, messages were being written on the frost on the window, candy was displayed all over every available table top, and in the center of it all, was a giant projector that I recognized from Defense Against the Dark Arts class last year when Snape was substituting for Lupin. I'm sure it wasn't easy nicking that from Snape's closet. Other than the decorations, the common room was much smaller than the Slytherin's, but it was warm and cozy, homey. The fireplace lit the room under an orange-red glow, completely different from the green glow that was reflected onto the walls of the Slytherin one.

I recognized some of the most famous Gryffindors in my year still putting up decoration, like Dean Thomas, putting up some orange and black streamers using the levitating charm, Seamus Finnigan, messing around with the projector, and Hermione Granger, charging full speed ahead to greet Neville and me at the entrance. She had a tremendously large smile on her face that would make the Cheshire cat jealous as she stuck her hand out for me to shake.

"Hello there, I'm Hermione Granger!" she welcomed me boisterously. "You must be Paige Hollands, correct?"

I grinned a little and chuckled before accepting her hand. "Yeah, that's right. So, you're not intimidated by the fact that there's a Slytherin in your common room?"

Her smiled dropped an inch and a half before answering. "Well, erm, no. Neville has told us loads about you, and you seem, er, nice enough."

Maybe it would be a good idea if I lost the smart-ass Slytherin attitude. Before I could apologize or say anything, I heard a cold comment come from the corner of the room.

"What's a Slytherin doing in here?" asked a boy, which I found was one of the infamous Weasley twins, which one, I could never be sure. His twin was standing right behind them, and they were standing with their arms crossed, mirror images of each other.

I narrowed my eyes at them, and was about to respond when Neville stood in front of me protectively.

"I, I invited her," he said boldly, with a look of pain on his face. He swallowed and I saw his features tighten, as if bracing himself for the worst.

The twins looked at each other skeptically at first, and then a small grin crept onto their cheeky faces.

Before I could ask what was going on, I was whisked away off my feet and dragged to a nearby chair in a corner.

"Would you like to buy a product from the fabulous Twins of Weasleys?" the one on the right (I really couldn't tell who was who) asked me eagerly, holding up a large red suitcase labeled, Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. I was instantly uneasy.

"We have a large variety of manufactured goods that are high quality and very much enjoyable, with some redeeming qualities," the other advertised with a grin, winking at his twin.

"That's _enough_ out of you two!" Hermione scolded, pushing the two to the side and pulling me up. "Honestly, I thought your mother destroyed all of your stock!"

"You dishearten us, Granger," the one on the left said (they _really_ need to get some nametags), shaking his head in fake disappointment. "You think that just because dear old mum destroyed our stock means that we would give up our life of tricks-"

"Shenanigans-" the other twin added.

"And tom foolery?" the first one finished.

"We're trying to start a business here," twin number 2 explained. "We would just like a couple of galleons to get a head start. You know, one day, we'll be the greatest joke shop owners in all of England-"

"And you'll be begging us to give you some of our merchandise," twin number 1 finished with a satisfactory look on his face.

"Yes, and chocolate frogs might rain fall from the sky," she retorted sarcastically, rolling her eyes and grabbing my arm protectively. "Come on, Paige, I'll let you borrow some pajamas and get you away from _these_ two."

"Bye," I giggled, waving my fingers at them. They really were entertaining.

"She wants me," they both said in unison, nodding their heads.

Hermione led me up the stairs to the girl's dorms before I got a chance to see a fight break out between the two of them. Oh yes, those boys were _very_ amusing.

I was wondering why Hermione was letting me borrow clothes when I remembered that I was still wearing my Serena costume from the Halloween Party. Not very appropriate. There was no one else in the room when we reached it. I pulled out my wand and tapped my hair, allowing it to lose its blond color. My eyes followed Hermione as she walked to one of the four-posters and opened the trunk that stood in front of it. She pulled out a pair of pink and white stripped pajama bottoms along with a matching pink shirt. Pink wasn't necessarily my favorite color, but beggars can't be choosers.

"You know," Hermione began, turning around so that her bushy hair was facing me. "Neville...he...he really likes you, Paige."

I stopped the action of pulling my shirt off.

"From the day he met you, he's been talking about you non-stop," she continued, scratching the back of her head. "He's never really had a true friend, a best friend, or even a, er, a girlfriend."

"I know," I commented quietly, pulling the pants on.

"And everyone knows that you're Malfoy's-"

"I am _not_ Malfoy's," I growled, outfit complete. I tapped her on the shoulder to indicate that I had finished, and she turned around to face me, bashfully.

"Are you sure about that?" Hermione asked, biting her lips and eyebrows knitted together. "You like Malfoy, and he obviously likes you. He thinks you're his, and everyone's learned it as well. Do you have any idea what kind of affect this has on Neville? He has enough self-esteem issues as it is. And you've...you have given him hope that he is not a failure."

"I don't like putting all of that pressure on him-"

"Then why do you do it?" she demanded. "Stop being so selfish and leading both of them on. You have to pick one."

"This is none of your concern, Granger," I snarled suddenly, taking a step back away from her in offense. "It is not my intention to lead either of them on. I am simply Neville's friend. I am not Malfoy's property. I am me."

"Oh, well then," Hermione said, wetting her lips, clearly agitated. "Then it's true."

"What's true?" I growled viciously, really wanting to give back these pajamas. I realize now that this was all an excuse to get me alone and interrogate me about my friends.

"You are just like every other Slytherin," she explained. "He kept telling me that you were different, and I didn't want to believe him. Now I have a reason not to."

She pushed passed me and whipped the door opened, letting it slam onto the stone walls with a loud 'smack.' I remained behind, starring at Hermione's bed, thinking about what she had said. I couldn't choose between them. I love them both.

I finally sighed, and decided to leave this fight for another day, and followed the same path that Hermione had taken down to the common room, where Neville was being surrounded by all of the Gryffindor boys. The scene forced a smile onto my face, lifting my mood. Neville spotted me leaning casually against the wall of the stairwell, and all eyes followed his gaze. They swallowed and backed away slowly, and I ran up to him and grabbed his hand, leading him to a place on the floor where we would have a good view of the movie. The other boys stood in awe and glared jealously at Neville, including the Weasley twins. It made me happy.

"Alright, Neville?" I whispered in his ear.

"Yeah," he said, blushing Gryffindor maroon.

"What did they want?" I asked him, already knowing what his answer was going to be.

"Um, nothing," he said, visibly lying. "Just wanted to know, er, where I met you, things like that."

I chuckled, and crossed my legs together, grabbing a handful of some sort of yellow pastries from a nearby table. I was about to put it in my mouth when I was bombarded, once again, but the Weasley twins.

"Don't eat that!" they yelled in harmony, dog piling on top of me.

"Bloody hell!" I complained, dropping the pastry onto the floor. "What was that all about?"

The one closest to my head looked at me and smiled, waggling his eyebrows.

"Come here often?" he asked, resting his chin on his hand while his twin grabbed the treat.

"Get off!" I said through giggles, pushing them both off of me.

Poor Neville was pushed backwards so that he had landed with his legs over his head, a very uncomfortable position to look at. I pulled him right side up and glared at the twins, demanding what had happened.

"Er, nothing!" one said, smiling and hiding the pastry behind his back. "I think it's time we start the movie!"

He pulled out his wand and tapped the projector, and the movie was being projected onto a white screen hung up on the wall.

"About time," I mumbled, not wanting to know what was inside that pastry. "So what movie is it?"

"Halloween, I think," Neville answered, still flustered from being tackled. "Some old muggle movie that Hermione suggested. Speaking of Hermione, do you know what's wrong with her? She stormed out of the girl's dorms and headed up the boy's one."

"Erm, no, I don't know what happened," I lied, looking away from him and at the screen. The Gryffindors all began taking seats around us, occasionally casting envious glares at Neville. "What about Harry? How's doing after, you know?"

"Harry's not really in the mood for partying," Neville whispered illicitly, shrugging his shoulders. "Everyone seems to think that he really did put his name in the Goblet."

"Do you think he did it?" I inquired, looking him in the eyes.

He shook his head. "If I know Harry, it would be that he would never try to get himself any attention. He hates it all."

"You really are a good friend Neville," I complimented, giving his shoulder a slight shove. He smiled at me happily, the tips of his ears turning pink.

"Shh!" someone yelled from the front. "The movie's starting."

I rolled my eyes and leaned back onto my elbows, and allowed the old crappy movie to play.

______________________________________________________________________________

A/N: I suppose I will just stop the chapter here. I was going to go on, but decided against it. It was getting kind of lengthy, and I am very eager to move on.

So just tell me your thoughts on it. If you could tell, I've been putting in the effort to not make Paige a Mary Sue. I'm trying to make her as un-Mary Sue as possibly possible. If you have any suggestions, please share. Be happy to hear them. 

The next chapter you'll see Draco again. It's going to be a chapter full of angst. I can feel it. Lots of yelling and arguing between- whoops! It's a surprise. Yes, I enjoy making you all angry. Well, ta ta! Please leave a review! They're always appreciated!


	10. Chapter 10

**DISCLAIMER: Sadly, I do not own any of the characters of Harry Potter. I do, in fact, own Paige and the other characters that you don't recognize. I made up most of this cuz this is, as you all know, a fanfiction and I can do whatever I please because I control it! Muwahahaha! Boy this is a long disclaimer…**

Everyone who had attended the movie party was sleeping silently on the floors in the Gryffindor common room. They were all sprawled across the floor, some holding pillows, some blankets, and some each other. The white screen was still up, but the projector had shut off on its own when the movie had ended. The students spent most of the time scoffing at the movie; it was full of stupid people making illogical choices. But most of them had forgotten that it was a muggle movie, and that there was no magic involved whatsoever.

I slowly stirred as the soft morning sunlight hit my eyes. My eyes blinked open sluggishly and squinted painfully at the light. I turned onto my other side to avoid the light and saw, to my surprise, Neville, noticeably close to me. He was breathing peaceful, and looked so sweet and innocent. I looked at his arm, and it was draped across my stomach protectively, either on purpose or unintentionally. I smiled at him, knowing that he wouldn't see it, and thought about what Hermione had said the other night about me being selfish. As much as I hated to admit it, she was right. Neville and Draco both did like me, and being friends with both of them just makes the decision harder. But I love them both, just in different ways. Neville, as a best friend. Draco, as something..._more._ I don't know quite how to explain it yet, but these two boys were different to me. I would have to set the record straight with both of them at some point.

I gradually slipped out from underneath Neville's arm and tiptoed my way upstairs to the girl's dorms to retrieve my Halloween costume from the night before. Hermione was the only girl in there, and I swallowed the urge to stick my tongue out at her. I knew I was going to have to tell Dumbledore about what happened at some point, and I knew I had to tell Draco about my previous encounter with the Freak. Just thinking about him made me shiver.

I returned to Neville and knelt in front of his sleeping form. I leaned down and kissed his cheek, then headed down a short hallway that led to a door and I pushed it open. My hunch had been correct; it was the door that led to the Grand Staircase. I closed my eyes and tried my best to run down the stairs without looking at my surroundings; I didn't want to know where the Gryffindor common room was.

I finally made it to the dungeons without being caught by any teachers whatsoever, but narrowly missing Peeves on the third floor. I whispered the password to the wall, and it opened so that I could sneak inside. When I reached the Slytherin common room, so much colder and darker than the Gryffindor one, I found Draco asleep on the black leather couch. He was still wearing his Halloween costume, and his black top hat had tilted over his face, covering most of his peaceful features. I chuckled softly, and his eyes slowly opened. He noticed me standing there, watching him, and hurried up into a sitting position. Draco crossed his arms and looked at me disapprovingly.

"Where were you?" he asked, almost sounding like a father.

I smirked and sat onto my hip.

"Partying with the Gryffindors," I told him honestly, folding my arms and letting my costume hanging over.

"Why were you with them?" he inquired, sneering.

"I was invited by Neville," I answered, rolling my eyes at his immaturity. "I was just there to watch a movie."

"I bet you were getting cozy with that, Potter," he snarled, standing up and stepping right in front of me. His grey eyes were piercing into mine.

I snorted, holding back a laugh. He was just being jealous.

"Actually, I hadn't seen him the whole night," I informed him, trying to step around him to continue to the girl's dorms.

But it never was that easy, was it? He stepped right into my path once again, his expression still lingering on his pale face.

"Let me pass, Draco," I growled at him dangerously, getting irritated. "Stop being a jealous jackass and let me go change."

"No," he refused, grabbing my arms as I tried to escape again. "I don't want you going out alone anymore, not with that, creep out there, looking for you."

I stopped struggling with him, and smiled. He wasn't being jealous, he was just worried. His face flushed as he saw realization dawn on me. He threw my arms down and backtracked.

"B-Besides," he stumbled, realizing his mistake. "Gryffindors are the enemies. You're not supposed to be hanging out with those losers."

"I can hang out with whoever I want to, thank you very much," I retorted, tilting my face higher into the air.

"No, not when you're mine," he snarled, looking more fierce than I had ever seen him in his life, which is saying lot considering he always looks angry, making me think that that scowl stuck to his face was permanent.

I was outraged at this comment, and he knew it, too. He bit his lip worriedly as he saw my face starting to grow red.

"How many times have we discussed that I am not yours?" I shouted back at him, taking a step towards him, forcing him to fall backwards onto the couch in surprise. "The only reason you like me is because of the way I look! Not because of who I really am!"

"Tha-tha-that's not true!" Draco stumbled, trying to regain his composure. He tried to get back up off the couch, but I pushed him back down.

"Yes it is," I screamed, so utterly pissed off that I couldn't think straight. He was just being silly before, but now he had crossed the line. "Then how come you despised me the past three years? Huh? It was because I wasn't 'Slytherin material'!" I used air quotes to help prove my point at how stupid the whole idea was. "I wasn't good-looking enough, I wasn't skinny enough, I wasn't mean enough! This whole thing is just a popularity contest and I hate it!"

It seemed that my true feelings had finally got to him. He gazed at me sadly, but didn't show any sign that he was going to move, not even to comfort me, which I was surprisingly happy about. I really didn't need his sympathy right now.

"You didn't even care that you were hurting me," I sobbed, tears spilling out and my voice cracking.

I looked up, and through my tear streaked eyes, I managed to catch the eyes of many startled Slytherins coming to watch the show. I had been so angry with him that I hadn't even noticed that there was a small crowd surrounding us, like we were some kind of sideshow at a circus.

Without saying another word, I charged upstairs to the girl's dorms and slammed the door behind me. I went to lock it, but remembered too late that there were no locks on these doors. I cursed quietly under my breath and made my way over to the bed and, most importantly, my pillow. I buried my head into the white material and just cried my eyes out, hoping that no one who wanted to live would enter this room.

He doesn't love me. He just wants me as arm candy.

_But didn't you know this was going to happen?_

Well, yes and no. I was kind of hoping that he was a good guy on the inside and actually like me for me, not my looks.

_He is a Slytherin._

Aren't I a Slytherin as well? Why did I end up in this house? What was that stupid Sorting Hat thinking? I am not a Slytherin. I can't be.

_Why not ask it yourself when you go up to see Dumbledore about the whole Freak incident?_

Hm. You are one smart brain.

_Thanks._

********

I tapped slightly on Professor McGonagle's door, and bit my lip nervously. I really didn't want to talk about the events with the Freak to anyone, really, and telling it to Dumbledore was going to be awkward and uncomfortable. I almost talked myself out of doing it, and went to turn away when the door slowly creaked open.

McGonagle's bespectacled face peered out curiously, yet with authority.

"Yes, Ms. Hollands?" she asked roughly, clearly irritated that I had interrupted…whatever she had been doing.

"Er, professor." My voice cracked, and I had to clear my throat and start over. Damn nerves. "Professor, I need to speak with Professor Dumbledore immediately. I, er, think someone has broken into the castle."

"Excuse me? Broken in?" she repeated dangerously, narrowing her eyes on me.

I nodded my head slowly and continued. "He has a-attacked me twice now, but keeps disappearing."

"Why did you not inform us sooner, Ms. Hollands?" she asked sternly, throwing open the door fully and storming out.

"I thought it was just a student, but...I don't know anymore," I told her somewhat honestly, my face flushing.

"Come with me," she told me sternly, and headed towards the seventh floor, to a statue of a gargoyle. "Cockroach Clusters."

I looked at her as if she were nuts. Why is she talking about candy at a time like this? But that thought was cut off when the gargoyle jumped to the side, revealing set of moving staircases reeling upwards like an escalator. She indicated for me to go on ahead of her, and I cautiously stepped onto it, and it slowly carried me up towards a door. I knocked on the door apprehensively, followed by a calm, quiet, "Enter," that obviously belonged to the Headmaster himself.

I did as he said and sent him a weak smile. I had never been inside of Dumbledore's office, but never really thought about it until last night when I had decided to tell Dumbledore. I had imagined the unimaginable, as contradictory as that sounds. Hundreds of books, multiple wands, magic mirrors or windows, and so on. What I saw was not quite what I expected. It was a simple room, decorated with many portraits of people I did not recognized, but assumed them to be previous Headmasters, based on the grandeur of them all.

"Yes, Ms. Hollands?" Dumbledore asked cheerfully, despite his current situation with Harry and the tournament. He was sitting in an enormous chair, the dark wood complimenting his purple robes and his eyes twinkling underneath his half-moon spectacles.

I was a little surprised that he knew my name, considering I was a nobody until this year.

"I was, er, attacked," I began bluntly, looking down at the stone ground.

I told him everything that had happened to me, the jewelry, and the two attacks. His mood didn't change which surprised me. It was as if this was a walk in the park for him.

"It sounds to me," he began, standing up in his chair and walking towards his window that overlooked the quidditch pitch. "That you simply have an admirer."

"But sir, he threatened my parents!" I nearly shouted, outraged at how lightly he was taking this.

"It seemed like an empty threat to me." He continued to stare out of the window, and that's when I saw it. The Sorting Hat. It was resting upon one of his bookshelves, and appeared to be just a normal hat. But I knew better.

Dumbledore caught my gaze and followed it. He smiled slightly, and seemed to know exactly what I was thinking.

"Am I right to assume that you are also here for another reason?"

I nodded my head slowly.

"You are wondering why the Sorting Hat put you in Slytherin, are you not?" he asked, and placed himself gently into his chair once again.

Once I again, I nodded, but my features didn't change at all.

"I believe that it is safe to assume," he began calmly, resting his wrinkled hands on his lap. "That he knew your deepest desire. To fit in. Be popular. Be…" He paused, and I glanced at him quickly. "Liked. Especially by a certain Slytherin."

I guess everyone could tell that I liked Draco; even the Headmaster. Quite embarrassing, actually. I could feel my face turning red.

"I am almost certain that the hat could feel your ambition and potential. I don't believe you are like the rest, which is not necessarily a bad thing."

"If I am different than the rest of them, sir," I began politely, glancing at him for a moment. "Then shouldn't that mean that I am in the wrong house?"

"There happened to be another student who had the same problem that you have right now, Ms. Holland." Dumbledore folded his hands together and smiled. "He thought that he belonged in a different house because of the similarities between himself and a certain, dark wizard. A situation, somewhat like yours, but quite the opposite. He even asked the Sorting Hat the very same question you were thinking."

"What did it tell him?" I urged him to go on, dying to hear his answer.

"It told him that he would have done well in Slytherin," he said lamely. "But it was Harry's choice, and his choice alone that he became a Gryffindor."

"Harry Potter thought he belonged in Slytherin?" I asked incredulously.

Hm. Draco always made him out to be the bad guy, and full of himself. But even Harry Potter doubted himself. Strange.

I left, soon after that, but I still didn't feel safe. I knew Dumbledore was wrong, and this guy was a real threat to me. But I couldn't worry about that now; I still had loads of homework to do and there was a prince that was very upset with me, or who now understands exactly how I feel.

______________________________________________________________________________

A/N: So how did you guys like it? I know it took me forever to get out, but I've had such a fun summer, doing loads of stuff, and doing summer homework. Woohoo! I've actually had this written for awhile, and have just been editing away with it. Gone editing crazy, actually. But thank you for being patient!

I hope you guys noticed the connection between Paige and Harry going on here. Aren't I just so...clever?

Tell me what you thought! Leave a review! I do love it when I get reviews.

Oh, oh, oh! One more thing: what did you guys think of HBP? I want to hear your opinions on it, because I absolutely positively hated it. THE worst HP movie yet. It was more like a bloody teen romantic-comedy/chick flick. Awful. I don't even think Yate TRIED to stick to the book. The only good part was the Felix part. I got a good laugh out of that. But everything else was plain awful. Even the very beginning pissed me off. The whole subway thing where Harry's flirting with a girl and then POOF! Dumbledore's there, coming to take Harry somewhere that he doesn't' know and then POOF! Off to the Burrow where Harry realizes for the first time that he's in love with Ginny. Just randomly, out of the blue. I can rant about this movie for hours, so tell me what you liked/hated about this movie. Cheers!


	11. Chapter 11

**DISCLAIMER: Sadly, I do not own any of the characters of Harry Potter. I do, in fact, own Paige and the other characters that you don't recognize. I made up most of this cuz this is, as you all know, a fanfiction and I can do whatever I please because I control it! Muwahahaha! Boy this is a long disclaimer…**

Walking into History of Magic on November 24th, a Tuesday morning, felt a little odd. It wasn't an ordinary day, no. It was the day of the first task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Classes were supposed to stop midday, and then everyone would walk down to some arena by the lake where we would see the first task. It was very exciting, but I was not quite in the mood for such a fiesta. Draco hadn't said a word to me since the day that we had that immense fight, and because of that, neither had the rest of the Slytherins.

It was the first three years of Hogwarts all over again.

On November 2nd, a little over twenty days ago, I walked down the stairs to the common room to find that all of the Slytherins were staring at me, and I fully well knew why. They were all remembering the little argument that happened between Draco and me the morning before. I felt self-conscious as I made my way out into the dungeon hallway, and had to focus all of my energy on not crying. I could not let it show that they were getting to me.

As a result to my return to the bottom of the Slytherin food chain, I had to sit with the Gryffindors during class. But since that really was not an option for me during breakfast, lunch or dinner, I had to endure their snide little comments to me about how I was a crybaby, and a whore, and, worst of all, a cow. I would occasionally glance up to see if Draco was contributing to this insult party, but he was always staring at his plate or talking to Pansy, revealing that he was trying his hardest to ignore me. Who would talk to Pansy unless it was against their will?

I suppose that he thought that he was doing me a favor, by leaving me be. But I actually preferred it when he talked to me, even if it was insulting. It meant that he knew I existed. That was the one shred of hope I had clung onto for three years. He knew I was alive. But now, it's like I was invisible to him.

Neville stood up at his desk and waved me over cheerfully, and I smiled at him. He was really the only friend that I had left. Well, to be honest, he was probably the only real friend that I had ever had to begin with.

I placed my bag on the floor next to the desk that we shared, and took the seat that Neville had pulled out for me. He was so sweet to me.

"So how are you?" he asked me, his sweet little dorky smile displayed on his face.

"I'm fine," I answered, returning his smile with a small grin. "I'm kind of excited for the task later today."

"Me too!" he exclaimed. His eyes slightly glazed over. "I can't wait to see Harry in action. I mean, we've heard all of these stories about him, how amazingly he fights against the dark arts, and now we might actually get to witness this."

I chuckled. He was like a little kid in a candy shop. Although, despite his enthusiasm, I could tell that he was slightly jealous of The-Boy-Who-Lived. But I could never imagine him fighting ferociously against anything, really. I do recall him engaged in an epic battle with Hagrid's Monster Book of Monsters in our third year.

"Good morning class," Professor Binns greeted the class in his usual, boring tone, indicating that class had started and that we all needed to shut up.

Only a few more hours until the first task began…

Anxiously, the entire school made its way down to the arena, and I was one of them. Of course, with Neville by my side. As I examined the rest of the students, I noticed that most of them were wearing badges that bore the message, "Potter Stinks." They pissed me off, so I ripped them off anyone who was wearing one and chucked it at their heads.

"Hey!" One of them exclaimed at me, and I turned around to chuck something else at them, to find it was Paul Jolkins. He glared at me for a second, and then walked away, no longer acknowledging me.

I rolled my eyes and grabbed Neville's hand, dragging him the rest of the way to the arena.

The tournament itself mainly consisted of the champions dodging dragons, and their attempts at trying to steal the golden dragon egg. I was mostly bored, until I saw Harry come out, looking pale and nauseous. Bet it sucked to go last.

Our little cheering team, which consisted of me, Neville, and Hermione, since every other Gryffindor hated Harry at the moment, stood up and screamed for him. He did not glance at us the entire time; he mostly paid attention to the fire-breathing dragon that he was running from. Or, I should say, flying from, considering he used his wand to call his Firebolt to the arena.

And then…it was all over. Harry had successfully acquired his egg, and he looked extremely relieved. He was dragged into the first aid tent, and the arena began to slowly empty itself. Once everyone had seen that Harry was going to come out alive, the Gryffindor's jeers turned to cheers. They had oh so suddenly chosen his side. Gits.

After Neville left me to go party with the rest of the Gryffindors, not before begging me to come with him and me refusing with claims of a headache, I walked by myself to the Slytherin common room. I knew I shouldn't have walked alone, with the Freak on the loose and all, but I didn't even care anymore.

"You might as well come and get me now," I yelled into the air angrily, stopping in the middle of the dungeons. "Draco doesn't want me anymore. Who would care if I went missing?"

I wasn't expecting a reply.

"Now that's not true," Draco said softly, leaning casually against the wall. I jumped at the sound of his smooth voice.

"Oh, it's you," I said quietly, fearing it was the Freak. "I thought you weren't speaking to me."

"Nah, why would I do that?" he asked, his cockiness back in his voice. "I just needed some time to think about what you said. And you're right."

I think my heart just stopped.

"I did only like you for your looks," he admitted, avoiding my eyes and walking around me. "But I want to change that now."

He walked to the front of me, and slowly dragged his hands down my arms until they were tangled in-between my fingers. I shivered, but was still confused. I searched for an ulterior motive in his cold, grey eyes, but found none.

"I want to get to know you," he continued, stepping closer to me.

I was so confused by his change of character.

"If, if you really are concerned for me," I began, a sob threatening to escape from the back of my throat. "Then why have you let them all continue to say such terrible things to me?"

"Just keeping my image, babe," he explained bashfully, with a small smile. "But I can assure you that it won't happen again."

Tears prickled at the back of my eyes. I was so happy. I had never thought that receiving his forgiveness would have been so easy. Which was why I was so cautious to accept his apology.

I took a step away from him and said, "If you really do feel that way, then you need to prove it."

"How about this?" he asked, and leaned in to kiss me.

When his lips touched mine, a cold sensation went through my body, and I shivered in pleasure. This just felt so right, so perfect. How could we have been separated for so long?

But the kiss didn't last long. It was short and sweet. He pulled away, and I fell into him, wanting more. What a tease.

"So?" he asked, smirking. "Did that tickle your fancy?"

I giggled at him, and then shook my head.

"Anyone can give a girl a kiss," I began, wrapping my arms around his pale neck. "But I want you to do something special. Does not have to be spectacular, just meaningful."

He looked down at me, curiously, and was thoughtful for a few minutes.

After awhile, I knew we had to return to the common room. People would be wondering where we….well, where [i]he[/i] was. I took his hand and led him back to the common room, where the other Slytherins took notice of the two of us. I was back in.

A/N: Yeah so it's been almost a year since I last updated but here it is! A new chapter of Slytherin! Sorry that the first task seemed rather rushed. It's just, you've all ready the books, or seen the movie, and you know how it goes. I'd hate to butcher it. Besides, this was more of a filler chapter. You all know that this is the build up for the Yule Ball. Yep, bring on the drama!

So what did you think? Did you like it? Did you hate it? Tell me your personal opinions. And no worries; I love constructive criticism.


	12. Chapter 12

**DISCLAIMER: Sadly, I do not own any of the characters of Harry Potter. I do, in fact, own Paige and the other characters that you don't recognize. I made up most of this cuz this is, as you all know, a fanfiction and I can do whatever I please because I control it! Muwahahaha! Boy this is a long disclaimer…**

Professor Snape dragged us all into an empty classroom in the dungeons one day, and separated the boys and girls onto either side of the room.

The room had been cleaned out, with chairs pushed up against each side of the wall. The center of the room was completely bear, except for a table which held a very large, old-fashioned record player. No one had a clue about what was going on.

Before anyone could begin to question him about what was happening, he began to explain.

"There is going to be a dance at Hogwarts on Christmas day," he started monotonously, getting right to the point. He continued over the squeals of girls in the room. "I will need to teach you each to ballroom dance. Everyone partner up. Professor Sinestra and I will exemplify proper dancing etiquette."

But no one was paying any attention to them: they were all trying to grab a partner. I cast my eyes over in Draco's direction, but he already had a crowd of girls around him. It appeared as if he was drowning in a sea of girls; I could barely see the top of his shiny, blond head.

I chuckled to myself and grabbed a random boy, making sure that he was somewhat decent.

"Paige?" Paul Jolkins exclaimed, his face incredulous. "Fancy seeing you here."

"Yeah, fancy that, eh?" I answered, smiling. He held out his left hand and I took it, placing my left on his shoulder. I felt his free arm wrap around my back.

"Got a date to the ball yet?" he asked, a smirk playing on his lips. He knew just as well as everyone else that Draco was the only one I would be allowed to go with.

"I've had my eye on something," I said with a shrug. I saw him out of the corner of my eye, making his way through the crowd with Pansy in his arms. "Something blond, possessive, and a little wimpy."

Paul looked up at his bangs, and sighed when he saw the color.

"So that's not me then," he said in fake disappointment. "If you ever want something brunette, possessive, and a little beefy, let me know."

I laughed at him, and took pleasure in the jealous look Draco was sending us.

Before we could finish our conversation, I felt my arm being pulled back and my body colliding with the Prince.

"We are going together." Were the first words out of his mouth. I could not help but snort. He never will change, will he?

"Oh we are, are we?" I asked raising an eyebrow. "I don't ever remember you asking me. Must've missed it."

"Oh please," he returned, rolling his eyes. "Everyone knows that we are going together, so no one else will ask you."

"Yeah," I said with a sigh. "You're probably right. Why are you so damn intimidating?"

"Part of my charm, babe."

I smiled when he called me babe. I must've looked like a love-struck teenager because…well I was. I probably had some dumbass smile displayed across my face as Draco brought my lips closer to his. But who wouldn't?

"Malfoy, Hollands," Snape's voice rudely chimed in. Both of our heads pulled away quickly. I was embarrassed while Draco looked cocky. "Please refrain from any public display of affection. Thank you."

"Kind of wish Potter was here right now," Draco said as Snape trudged away, surprising me.

"You do?" I inquired, raising my eyebrows in surprise. "You want to dance with him instead of me?"

"No that's not what I meant," he answered, rolling his eyes. "If Potter were here, Snape would've let us get away with anything."

"You do have a point," I said, nodding my head in agreement. "But that's ok. We still have the common room where we shouldn't have any teacher-like interruptions."

He smirked at this, and I could tell that he wanted to lean in again, but knew better.

The next few days came rather fast, and everyone was rather thankful for it. No one wanted to wait for the Yule Ball, including myself. But I knew that I needed to begin making plans for a dress, shoes, a hair style, etc.

I needed to get to work straight away. My plan was that I would shove a dress robe magazine into my Transfiguration book during class and…probably get caught by McGonagle. So the truth was I had no plan. I guess it will have to wait until after classes have ended for the day. Thank goodness it was Friday.

I made my way down to the Great Hall for breakfast. As soon as I walked in, half of the Gryffindor table waved me over, stopping me in my tracks. They were all grouped together, listening to something.

I curiously walked over to them, to see what all the commotion about.

"What's going-"

They all shushed me before I could finish. The cluster included the Weasley twins, Ron, Harry, Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, and a couple of others that I did not recognize. I noticed Hermione was sitting at the far end of the table, glaring at the crowd occasionally. I also noticed that there was an absence of Neville.

The twins brought me into the middle of the group and thrust some sort of fake ear into my ear, and I tried to cry out in disgust, only to be silenced once more. Through the grotesque ear, I heard Neville's voice.

"I…I wanted…to…" he muttered shyly, his quiet voice shaking. His voice echoed in the ear.

"I wa-wa-wa-wanted t-t-t-t-to," Draco mocked him, followed by snickering voices. "Spit it out, Longbottom. I don't want to waste anymore of my life on you."

There was silence for a few brief moments, and I took this opportunity to stand up and look around. I followed the flesh-colored cord that was connected to the ear all the way to the Slytherin table. Neville was standing directly in front of Draco, looking even more nervous than he sounded. He looked around, as if he was about to chicken out, when he saw me. The rest of the table sat back down in their chairs, trying to act casual. Some whistled, while some stuffed their faces with food. But not me. I gave him a curious look and tilted my head to the side. He pursed his lips and turned around to face Draco once more. And suddenly, Neville belted out what he wanted to say.

"I wanted your permission to ask Paige to the Yule Ball."

He had never sounded so confident in his life.

Everyone in the group heard this outburst, and all eyes were then on me. But I wasn't paying any attention to them; I was running away from the table to the two of them, for I knew that this was not going to end well. Draco was going to curse him, or hex him, or worse. I had to stop this before anything bad happens to my Neville.

"Paige, wait!" the twins called out in unison, each grabbing one of my arms and earning themselves strange looks from the staff table.

"Draco's going to hurt Neville!" I cried out, trying to pry myself from their grips. "I have to help him!"

"I think he's going to be alright," the one on the right told me. They both dragged me back to the ear, and tried to continue to listen, but the conversation had already ended.

"What happened?" I asked the group worriedly. They all looked at me, eyes wide. "What did Draco say?"

"He said…" Harry began, quietly, as if in shock. "He said ok."

"To be specific, he said 'Do whatever you want, I don't care. She's not mine,'" Ron elaborated, scratching the back of his head.

"Wait, he gave Neville permission?" I asked, my jaw dropping.

"Inadvertently, yes," Harry answered when no one else would. "Looks like you've got yourself a date."

He gave me a friendly smile.

"Here he comes!" Seamus informed the table, and sure enough, when I turned around, there was Neville, as awestruck as the rest of us.

He stopped right in front of me, and everyone went along doing their business, staying close in the vicinity in order to hear what was going to happen next. Neville was looking at the ground when I called his name out.

"Neville?"

He looked at me, his eyebrows knitted together in confusion, for a brief second. Then, he pulled me into a deep embrace. He wrapped his one arm around my head and the other around my waist.

"Neville?" I asked again, baffled. "What's going on?"

"Draco," he began, his voice muffled through my hair. "He's, he's letting me take you to the Yule Ball. He said it was ok."

He pulled away and smiled at me, completely overjoyed. I turned to look at Draco, to see what his expression was, but his back was turned to me. A lot of Slytherins were giving him strange looks.

"Isn't that great, Paige?" Neville asked, forcing me to look at him. When I didn't say anything, his smile faltered a bit. "Will you go with me?"

I blinked.

"I…I…" I stuttered, not knowing what to say.

I loved Neville, he knew that, but…I wanted to go with Draco.

"I need…I need to go sit down," I told him, the words coming out rushed.

I ran away, all the way to the Slytherin table and sat myself next to Draco. I didn't look back. I knew that Neville's face would express hurt. I ran anyways.

"Why did you do that?" I demanded as soon as I had taken my seat. "I thought that we were going together?"

Draco said nothing for a second. He just sat there, nibbling on a piece of toast. Finally, he looked up at me and spoke.

"This is how I am proving myself to you," he answered quietly, standing up. "I am letting you go, just for one night."

And then he just walked away. I sat there, completely dumbfounded at what had just happened. I looked towards the Gryffindor table, and saw that Neville was nowhere in sight. I began rubbing my eyes, feeling suddenly exhausted. I had lost my appetite, so I got up to leave. As soon as I had left, a voice called out to me.

"Paige!" Neville's sweet voice rang out. But he did not sound very happy. He sounded upset. "Why didn't you answer me?"

"Neville, I don't know," I told him honestly. "Everything took me by surprise. I mean, you asked Draco for permission to take me to the Yule Ball, and he said yes. You've got to give me some time to get over that shock."

"Have you had enough time yet?"

I sighed, and braced myself for what I was about to tell him.

"I want to go with Draco," I told him truthfully and honestly. "I was supposed to. He's my dream date."

Neville pulled his lips in tight, and brushed his hands through his hair.

"I knew it," he began, angry. "I just knew it. Do you have any idea what I went through? How much courage I had to get up just to confront Draco?"

"I know, you were so brave!" I told him, trying to grab his hand, but he pulled away, looking at me as if I were some wild animal. "I was impressed."

"You are the most selfish girl I have ever met!" he yelled at me, turning around in circles. He reminded me of a chicken running around with its head cut off.

"Me? Selfish?" I demanded, myself starting to grow angry. "How many times have I stood up for you? Huh? How many times have I helped you? Defended you?"

"You did that all just to get Malfoy's attention," he growled at me, and I took a step back. "You were rebelling against the Slytherins. Helping me was your way of getting back at them. But now that they all like you and you're popular, and you're the bloody Slytherin princess, all you care about is staying with them. Being a Slytherin."

"What do you expect me to do?" I asked him, crossing my arms. I noticed that there was a small crowd gathering at the entrance of the Great Hall. "I'm in Slytherin. I have to act like a Slytherin."

"No you don't. You want to. All you care about is being liked. And to get liked, according to you, you have to be a complete and total jerk." At this point, he was breathing heavily. I had never seen him so upset before. "Don't you care about being a good person?"

I went to say something, to respond to his comment, but I knew that he was right. I was a terrible person. What had happened to me? This was not what I wanted.

"Neville…" I began, but did not know how to continue. I bit my lip, and felt the tears start to well up in my eyes.

"Don't ever talk to me again," he told me quietly, and walked away to the Grand Staircase.

I didn't go after him.

A/N: Whoa. Just, whoa. Holy shiz in my pants, whoa. Neville and Paige had an enormous, ginormo, argument the size of Mount Rushmore. That was intense, and I hate myself for writing it. For making Paige sound like a jerk. But hey, she was blinded by the popularity, but the glitz and glamour of being cool and well-liked. She needed to be yelled at.

I've noticed that I've been getting a lot of requests for more Harry. I'm actually rather surprised. I mean, I love Harry, love him to death, but I was expecting more, Draco! I'm ok with putting more Potter in. He was mentioned briefly here, but there will be more mention of him in later chapters. I have big plans for Potter, big plans!

So will Paige and Neville patch things up? I don't know…actually, I'm the author, so I do know. Haha! You'll have to continue reading to find out.

Tell me what you thought! Leave a review! Did you hate it? Like it? Have any suggestions? Go for it! I'm always open for friendly criticism. Cheers!


	13. Chapter 13

**DISCLAIMER: Sadly, I do not own any of the characters of Harry Potter. I do, in fact, own Paige and the other characters that you don't recognize. I made up most of this cuz this is, as you all know, a fanfiction and I can do whatever I please because I control it! Muwahahaha! Boy this is a long disclaimer…**

"You know, you really do belong in Slytherin," a familiar voice said from behind.

I was sitting on mine and Neville's rock down by the lake, knees pulled into my chest and tears silently spilling down my face. My face whipped around at the Harry's words, not caring if he saw my puffy red eyes or wet face. At this point, I didn't care about anything.

It was snowing slightly, and the little delicate flakes would become caught in my eyelashes, but my tears would quickly melt them away. The ground was covered in the sparkling white powder, and the lake was already frozen.

"I've been," I began to say, but was interrupted by a hiccup. I tried again. "I've been hearing that a lot lately."

"Now," he started, sitting on the edge of the rock, staring out at the lake. Then again, he could have been staring off into space for all I knew. "I don't mean that just because of the way you've been acting."

I turned slightly towards him and raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?"

He grimaced at the sarcasm. "What I do mean, is that the Sorting Hat is never wrong." He looked at me in the eye. "I thought that I belonged in Slytherin."

"Yeah, but that's because of the whole 'how you're like You-Know-Who' thing," I argued, wiping a tear out of my eye. "With me, it's completely different. I belong in Hufflepuff. I'm so worthless."

"Well first of all that was mean," Harry responded, pursing his lips. "Second of all, not all Hufflepuffs are worthless. Just look at, er, Cedric. Third of all, you're not worthless."

"I am worthless," I said, putting my face in my hands. "I've done nothing but cause trouble all year."

"Yes, true," Harry agreed, subconsciously running a finger over his scar. "But you also made Neville's year the best yet. Even if the year isn't even over, it was worth it to him."

"Until now of course." Harry was doing a terrible job of making me feel better.

"Again, true," Harry concurred once more. "But it was good while it lasted. He had someone to look up to, someone who was being a true friend to him. Someone to help him when he was in need. No one's ever done that for him before. It's no wonder he fell in love with you."

"In love?" I questioned, turning my head slightly to the side. "With me?"

"Yes you," he chuckled nervously. "All he would do was talk about you. You're smile, your laugh, the dimples when you smile."

He was teasing me, and I smirked a little bit. Oh, Neville.

"But what do I do now?" I said standing up, wiping the remnants of my tears away. "Now that I've ruined everything?"

With Neville gone, it was like a little piece of my heart had a gaping hole in it. A gape that was there before, but was then filled in by Neville.

"My only advice is this," he began, standing up, and slowly making his way back to the castle. Hermione and Ron were waiting at the top. Hermione glaring and Ron staring at the sky. "Ask yourself if you want to be a Slytherin. Acting like a jerk, hurting the people you love. Or if you want to act like…"

"A Gryffindor?" I chuckled, raising my eyebrows slightly. He nodded and smiled.

"Oh, and while I'm here," he said, holding a finger up and pulling something out of his cloak. It was the golden egg he had won in the first task. "Would you have any idea what I'm supposed to do with this?"

I took it in my hands gently and shifted the weight between my hands. I went to open it, but he stopped me.

"Trust me, you don't want to do that," he warned, grimacing slightly.

"I dunno," I began, shrugging my shoulders. "It's an egg. Maybe you have to sit on it and something will come out?"

The idea sounded positively silly, but it appeared as if Harry was considering it.

"I heard along the grapevine that Cedric has figured it out," I informed him. "Maybe you should ask him."

"Yeah, right," he muttered, taking the egg back and making his way back towards the castle.

I sighed. What was I going to do?

I looked at myself in the mirror, and tilted my head. I was wearing a beautiful, long, green dress. Not Slytherin green, but lighter. One side of the dress was pinned up at the thigh with a silver broche so that it showed quite a lot of leg. The back was open, only being covered with black straps that laced across like a corset.

My hair just hung down with loose curls. Nothing too spectacular. My make-up was simple; just the usual eye-liner, mascara, and brown and green eye shadow to make my eyes pop.

I took a deep breath, and turned away from my reflection, thinking of my mom. Both of my parents had been sad when I told them that I would not be coming home for Christmas, but my mom was happy to make a dress for me for the Yule Ball. It came by owl only a few days ago, but was met with slight dread. It meant that I had a dress and shoes and was all ready to go…without a date. Draco refused to take me still, and I hadn't talked to Neville since that fight.

I tried to apologize to him during Herbology, but he simply ignored me, like I was a fly on his shoulder.

"Draco and I decided to match," Pansy gloated from behind.

I didn't turn around to look at her, even though I knew the words were directed towards me. The moron thought that, when Draco asked her, he had never asked me. The thought made me smile slightly, despite the depressing feelings that were stored up inside me, like a monster locked away in a cave.

"His bow tie matches my dress," she continued. She was wearing a very short black dress. Which meant Draco's tie was black. What a moron.

I walked out past them, ignoring the smirks that were being sent my way. I didn't try to be better than them, even though I clearly was. I just wanted to get away from the eyes that wouldn't stop staring.

Unaccompanied, I made my way down the stairs that were just before the Great Hall. I kept my eyes on the ground, hoping to avoid people's gazes. She wasn't in the mood for that kind of attention. Not just yet.

The Great Hall looked amazing. Icicles dangled from the ceiling, floating in the air where the candles usually were. Ice sculptures were framing the entire room. It was even snowing slightly from the ceiling, almost like an ice palace. It was breathtaking.

Perhaps going to this dance wasn't such a good idea. Maybe I just should've stayed at home. This thought was reinforced in my mind, when I looked across and saw Neville with Ginny Weasley. I smiled, happy to see that he still managed to find a date, but still guilty about all that had happened. He looked adorable in his little bow tie; nevertheless, he didn't look all that happy. I looked away from the sight, and instead ran face to face into Draco. This day was just getting better and better.

"Hey babe," he greeted with a smirk. "You look gorgeous."

"I'm mad at you," I stated, and began to walk away, but you know men don't like that. He proceeded to grab my arm.

"Hey, don't be mad at me," he began quietly, grey eyes serious, but soft. "You were the one that wanted me to prove myself to you. You have no one to blame but yourself."

I cursed in my head, because I knew he was right. I must've looked upset or something, because he tapped the bottom of my chin with his index finger, saying, "Cheer up. I'll save you a dance."

It made me feel a little better about myself, and in the next moment, he was swept away by his slutty date. Pansy made sure to glare at me as she tugged on Draco's arm.

I shook my head, grinning at her jealousy, and noticed that everyone was gathering around the dance floor. The champions were about to make their grand entrance. The doors opened, and the room erupted in applause as Krum, Fleur, Cedric, and Harry made their way in, Harry looking extremely nervous and self-conscious. It made me laugh. He really was a good guy.

There was a whooshing sound, and before I could react, there was an invisibility cloak around me, a hand over my mouth, and assumedly a wand at my throat. The Freak was back.

Neville sighed, resting his depressed little head on his hand. Ginny grasped his free hand and gave it a tight squeeze.

"Are you still sad about Paige?" she asked innocently. His only response was another sigh. "You know, I'm sure she's here. Just ask her to dance and talk it through."

"We tried talking it through already," he growled, standing up and sticking his hands in his pockets. If there was a rock on the ground, he surely would have kicked it. "I've tried talking it through with her a hundred times. She doesn't want me. She wants Malfoy."

There was a silence between the two as Neville moped and Ginny felt guilty. Classical music began playing, and they watched as the champions began their waltz. Even though he didn't want to, Neville began searching the room for Paige. Oddly enough, he couldn't find her. He could've sworn he saw her not five minutes ago.

"Are you going to let that ruin your friendship?" Ginny asked suddenly, surprising Neville.

"It would hurt too much," he replied after a brief pause. "Not after I've loved her for so long."

"Draco, you're the man!" someone said from behind. Neville didn't even bother turning around. He didn't want to get Malfoy's attention. It would just lead to further humiliation.

"You've just got to know what women want," Draco replied. Neville was about to tune the Slytherin clan out when he heard a certain somebody's name. "And Paige doesn't even have a clue."

Neville's head whipped around he began listening intently, eyes narrowing. It was a group of Slytherin boys, all of their dates missing.

"I just have to swoop in and save the day now, like all the other times. It's already happened twice to her, and you know what they say."

"What?" Goyle asked foolishly. Even his voice sounded stupid.

"Third time's the charm, you thick head," Draco growled, glaring at the bigger guy. Neville never understood how Crabbe and Goyle could stand following his orders.

"Where'd he take her?" a boy asked.

"To one of the carriages out front," Draco replied smugly, recovering from insulting people.

Neville had his wand out in a matter of seconds. He charged right up to Draco and pointed it at his throat.

"What have you done with Paige?" Neville demanded in the fiercest tone he could manage.

Ginny called out his name to stop him, but he ignored her, fury too great to extinguish.

Draco's eyes widened in fear and he held his arms up in surrender. "Whoa, easy there Longbottom! Don't get your wand in a knot!"

He gained his confidence back once all of his buddies had their wands pointed at his attacker.

"_I_ didn't do anything with her," Draco began complacently, sneering. "She just happens to be missing, and, well, I'm going to be the one to save her."

"But you _planned_ this?" Neville asked, forcing the wand further into Draco's throat and enjoying his look of pain. "All along? The guy under the cloak, have you been paying him?"

"I don't have to tell you a single thing. And I suggest that you put the wand away, or else I'll set my dogs on you."

Draco eyed all of his friends, each one with their wands pointed at Neville. Neville got the hint, and slowly put away his wand, still fuming. He was surprised to see that none of his 'friends' were offended by being called dogs.

"I will tell Paige," he warned in a threatening voice. Draco simply laughed at that, straightening out his collar.

"Like she'll believe you." Neville gave him a questioning look. "She chose _me_, remember? Not you. She'll just think that you're still trying to win her over, but she'll always choose me over a pathetic loser like you."

Neville swallowed harshly and bit his lip sheepishly. He knew that Draco was right. He watched helplessly as Draco took off with his friends, laughing at Neville all the while.

"Neville?" Ginny asked cautiously after the performance had ended. "Neville?"

He looked at her confidently. "We have to find Paige."

Grabbing his jacket off the back of the chair, Neville ran out of the Great Hall, not caring if Ginny followed or not.

The night was cold, being winter and all, I was being dragged outside, hand over my mouth and cloak covering my entire body. Nobody could tell that I was being kidnapped. Nobody could tell that I needed help. Nobody could save me.

The Freak flung open a carriage door, the ones the foreign students had used to get to the castle, and roughly pushed me inside, closing the door behind him.

I stayed on the floor and crawled up into a ball in the corner, doing nothing to hide my ever growing fear. He was still underneath the cloak, and all I could hear was his breathing.

For a few agonizing minutes, he just sat and stared at me. I didn't care. There was nothing I could do.

"Hello Paige," he wheezed out, panting after the large effort. "It's been awhile, eh?"

I didn't utter a word. Just continued to stare at him, helplessly, even after my tears began to blur my vision. It was just one of those moments where, when you've lost all hope, that you didn't care. Didn't want to yell sarcastic remarks. Didn't want to fight back. I was already feeling shitty about myself, and now this went and happened. I secretly wished he would just take me away from here, so I wouldn't have to worry about the stresses of my life. Even if I created those stresses myself.

"Ah, baby," he whispered, and I felt a finger wipe away one of the tears. "Don't be sad. I know a way to make it feel all better."

I felt two invisible legs climb on top of me, and the finger that had removed the tear was traced down my face, down my neck, and so on. I expected him to pull one of the straps off, or just rip my dress off or something. But he just sat there. My eyes narrowed slightly, revealing some emotion.

"Why aren't you fighting back, love?" he asked. He sounded a tad worried.

"Just do what you want with me," I finally said, exhaling and closing my eyes.

The Freak's weight lifted off my body, and my eyes snapped open as I watched him, well, attempted to watch him, begin to…rock the carriage. This annoyed me. All I wanted to do was sit there and feel sorry for myself as something terrible happened to me, and he was making it very difficult.

Suddenly, the door burst open and the light from the castle slightly blinded me. My heart jumped slightly, because I thought I knew who exactly was going to be there. My blond, knight in shining armor.

But to my surprise, there was no bleach-blond head staring at me worriedly. Instead, it was Neville, breathing heavily. And my emotions flooded back into me at full force. A smiled threw away the pathetic frown that I had there before. I was just so…happy. It meant that Neville had been looking for me. It meant that Neville was worried about me. It meant that he still cared for me, even after all the crap I pulled with him.

"Ah shit," the Freak shouted, and the door on the other side of the carriage began to open. "Till next time, my love!"

Finally caring about this, I blindly reached out and tried to grab something, anything, and managed to snatch his leg and force him to come tumbling to the ground, half in the carriage, half out. His face had collided with the ground, and I heard a small crunching sound, indicating that he probably had broken his nose. The blood affirmed it.

Neville climbed in the carriage and helped me pull the Freak back in, and together we ripped the cloak off of him.

"Paul?" I exclaimed, dropping the invisible material and covering my mouth. "What the…Paul?"

He just looked up at us, eyes going back in forth between the two, as he held his nose together. He looked more annoyed than upset or angry.

Then Neville kicked him in the leg, hard, causing Paul to cry it in even more pain.

"Tell her, Jolkins," Neville growled at the Slytherin before him. "Tell him how Draco was _paying_ you to attack Paige."

It took a minute for me to register what Neville had said.

"Wha-what?" I asked, turning my gaze over to him. "Draco's…what?"

Neville looked like he regretted what he said, and then shook his head. But now that he said that, he couldn't just not explain himself. I grabbed his shoulders and shook him, demanding an explanation. He sighed, finally relenting.

"Did you ever notice how Draco just happened to be there every time this guy showed up?" he asked.

I thought about it. And now I did.

"Well, Draco's been paying him so that he could look like the hero, saving you and all…"

My heart felt like it had stopped working for a second. It was as stunned as I was. My throat suddenly felt very dry.

"You're…you're lie…" But I couldn't bring myself to say it. Paul wasn't denying it, and what he had said was the truth. Draco did just happen to be there at the right time. On both occasions. And for a second time that night, tears were brought forth from her eyes.

"So was that…was that you…on Halloween? When the lamp broke?" I asked, the pieces of the puzzle all suddenly falling into place. "And the presents? Were they all really from Draco?"

Paul just shrugged as an answer, probably because he was afraid of spewing blood all over the place.

Just then, there was movement at the door of the carriage.

"Paige!" Draco exclaimed, wand at the ready. The three in the carriage turned and looked at him.

His wand lowered as realization dawned on his face.

"Oh bloody hell," he mumbled, and immediately began retreating.

And all of a sudden, I was fuming. My breathing had increased and I felt all the blood rush to my face. I was embarrassed. I was angry. He had sent me through torture, just to make himself look good. Just so that I would come flocking to him. I was going to kill that boy. And with that thought, I recalled Defense Against the Dark Arts class with Moody.

Secretly thankful that I had stashed my wand in my dress, I yanked it out and cast the first spell that came to my head.

"Crucio!"

The green spell came out of the tip of my wand, and hit Draco square in the stomach, and he fell to the ground writhing and wriggling in pain.

The carriage was silent as everybody's eyes were on me, terrified. I looked at my wand and I realized what I had just done. I had just used an Unforgivable Curse on someone. I had just broken the wizarding law.

I was screwed.

**A/N: Oh my gosh. Ohmygosh. Homigosh. It's been forever since I last updated! *dodges knives and sporks* Yeah, yeah I know. It really has been awhile, though. And I apologize for that. I've had a bit of this written out for awhile now, but I didn't have the creative juices to fix it up and make it pretty and stuff. So. Voila! **

**Now about that ending. :O Whoa! Holy crap! She was so angry at him that she used the cruciatus curse. Holy crap, holy crap. I hope it was exciting enough for y'alllllll. :D But what Draco did was pretty crappy. I mean, come on, paying a guy to creep on Paige just so that he can swoop in and save the day? UNFORGIVABLE!**

**Leave a comment folks, and a new chapter will come sooner than you think ;)**

**Oh, and sorry if there's grammatical errors and such. I'll edit it later. I just reallllly wanted to post it.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Slytherin **

**Chapter 14**

**Repercussions **

~(*)~

Dumbledore's office was the same as it was the last time she was there. The random silver objects whirring and whizzing on the shelves and other surfaces. The Sorting Hat snoring lightly from the top of the highest cabinet. The Sword of Godric Gryffindor displayed like a museum artifact in a glass case, the rubies in the hilt glinting in the ray of sunlight. Once again, my vision began to blur as another wave of tears threatened to escape from my eyes.

_How could I have been so stupid? Using an Unforgivable Curse on a student…in Hogwarts! If only I had been in Gryffindor…or even Hufflepuff, none of this would've ever happened. If I was in Gryffindor, I would've met Neville sooner, and perhaps would've actually have been happy. I never would have changed myself into this…this monster. _

I buried my face once more into my hands, curling my fingers so that they gripped my face like iron. I was disgusted with myself. I had behaved like the Slytherin I swore I would never be.

"Mr. Malfoy is alright, Ms. Hollands." Professor Dumbledore's voice drifted in from the doorway unexpectedly, echoing only slightly off of the stone walls. I did not look up, so he continued. "He is lying down in the hospital wing, under orders from Madame Pomfrey."

He still did not receive a response, and resorted to silently making his way over to his chair and sitting down. Five minutes must have past, perhaps 10, I wasn't keeping track. My attention was still focused on my thoughts, back on the scene that had happened well over an hour ago. You cannot just simply erase something like that from your mind.

"Your actions from earlier, Ms. Hollands, were horribly misjudged," Dumbledore began, getting straight to the point. "Mr. Longbottom and Mr. Jorkins explained to me tonight's occurrences, and I am afraid that I will have to take disciplinary action."

Finally, I allowed my head to pull away from my hands, aware that my fingernails had left marks on the sides of my head. "You're going to expel me, aren't you?" I looked straight into his blue eyes, not a trace of fear in my own.

"Well," he said thoughtfully, as if they were just discussing the weather. "The Ministry would like me to do that." I gasped at the word Ministry. He ignored this. "They say you are too dangerous to be around the other students. Of course, I explained the situation to them, told them about how angry and upset you were, and you would never have done that in normal circumstances. They eased off slightly. Only slightly."

He tilted his head, so that his eyes were staring at me over his half-moon spectacles. For an old man, he could be quite intimidating.

"So then what is going to happen to me?" I asked him, quiet louder than I had intended to.

"The governors of the school have decided to suspend you for the rest of this year, and next year. Your parents have already been notified and asked not to come and see you." He didn't sound angry. Instead, he sounded disappointed. And for some reason, that was worse than him yelling.

I groaned, and hit my forehead with my palm, squinting my eyes as if I were in pain. "And what am I supposed to do in the meantime? Come back in my 6th year and have to hang back with the fourth years? I'm going to be behind! What's the point of just suspending me then? Might as well expel me! At least I won't have to catch up yet! Here, here ya go! I'll make this easy for you!"

I was in a rampage, and with unnecessary roughness, I yanked my wand out and chucked it at the ground so red sparks shot out. Tears were pouring down my face as if it were a pipe with a leak in it.

"Here's my wand. Take it and snap if in half. Take it!"

Dumbledore just sat there, watching me, his face casual. This made me even angrier, his airiness. He wasn't doing anything. He wasn't trying to stop me, or calm me down or anything. He was just staring. With a ferocious snarl, I reached down to retrieve my wand once more and shoved it into his hand, shouting "Take it! Take it!" until I slowly slid down onto my knees, crying and sobbing.

Unexpectedly, a hand reached down and started stroking my hair in a comforting manner.

"If you had just listened to me when I came to you about the Freak, then this never would've happened! I never would have used that spell…I would never have been hurt…"

Silence.

"What have I done, Professor?" I called out weakly, my voice distorted. "Why did I do that?"

It took a moment for him to respond.

"You did that because you were hurt by someone you thought you truly cared for," he told me calmly. "And because of that, your fury blinded out all rational emotions. I understand why you did it, but that does not mean that I approve of it."

Another silence past, only interrupted by my sobbing and occasional hiccup.

"You are going to have a very rough time after this, Ms. Hollands," he informed me, voice suddenly very serious. I looked up at him. His hand still rested on my head. "People are going to be accusing you of being a dark witch. Anything that goes wrong while you're around is going to be blamed on you."

My eyes widened at his words. I knew he was right. "How do I stop it, Professor?"

He looked down at me, his eyes soft now. "Courage."

There was a knock at the door, and Madame Maxime walked into the room. I stood up slowly and then returned to my seat, not looking at the great lady.

"Ah, Madame Maxime," Dumbledore greeted, his voice light and airy once more. He offered her the seat next to mine. "I have something that I would like to discuss with you."

The very large lady looked at Dumbledore curiously, but sat down anyways. She looked at me out of the corners of her eyes but said nothing. I was annoyed that Dumbledore had invited her here, now, at a time like this. What did he have planned?

"I would like to discuss with you the matter of admitting a student of mine into your school."

~(*)~

Draco was the only occupant in the Hospital Wing that evening, and he was in the bed that was the farthest away from the door. Perhaps because he was trying to hide himself, not wanting people to know why and how he was there. Perhaps because it was the bed with the best window view. As I approached him, I saw that he was awake, staring at the ceiling. He seemed to be lost in thought. Even as I sat down, he didn't say a word or move a muscle.

"Draco…" I began, my voice cracking. "I'm really sorry…about what I did. It's just…I was so angry and upset…it was the first thing that came to my mind-"

"Don't apologize," he interrupted me, turning his head to look at me. "You had every right to do that. Although I would have appreciated a less severe spell. I mean, what's wrong with Rictumsempra, hm?"

He was trying to get me to smile. I didn't. His face turned solemn once more.

"I'm not going to press charges or anything against you, Paige," he told me, grinning lightly. "I told my father not to do anything, and he's backed off. I'm sure he's convinced the Ministry to back off as well. You shouldn't be in any trouble."

"You're not going to see me again, for a long time," I told him, changing topics quickly. I wanted to make this goodbye short and sweet. I couldn't handle any more emotions.

The blond boy's head snapped towards my own quickly, a frown of concern in his forehead.

"They didn't expel you, did they?" he asked. I couldn't help but smile at his alarm. "Because if they did, my father-"

"You're father won't be able to do anything," I interrupted him, still grinning. "But to answer your question, no, I'm not expelled. I'm…the governors decided to suspend me from now until my sixth year."

"They can't bloody do that!" Draco exclaimed, rising quickly from his bed and throwing the sheets off of him. He began stalking off towards the door, muttering about simpletons in the Ministry, when he noticed I wasn't following behind. "Paige, come on. We are going to set this right."

I didn't move. It was my turn to stare off into space in thought.

"I deserve this punishment, Draco," I told him, looking over my shoulder at him. "They were thinking about expelling me, but Dumbledore was able to reduce it to suspension. There's nothing more you can do. I…I just came here to say goodbye."

"What so soon?" he asked, his voice dead.

"Yes," I said, nodding solemnly. "I'm leaving tonight. I'm transferring to Beauxbatons."

"Beauxbatons?" he repeated incredulously. "That's in France! Why the hell would they send you to France?"

"Why the hell did you do that to me, Draco?" I said through gritted teeth, my voice muffled. I closed my eyes and tried not to lose control again.

"I did it for you, for us!" he growled back, marching towards me, blond hair flapping in the air. "It's every girl's dream to be saved from some bad guy. So that's what I did."

"Yeah, but only if the bad guy wasn't being paid by the good guy you moron!" I retorted. "That makes the good guy the bad guy as well. What is _wrong_ with you?"

"You know what?" he said suddenly, pulling in his lips. "Screw this. You are not leaving me like this."

Without another word, he charged forward at me. At first, I thought he was going to hit me and I started to be back away, that is, until he grabbed me behind my neck and crashed his lips onto mine. No. I was still angry at him for what he did. I tried to pull away, but he wouldn't budge. Slowly my anger seeped away and instead, I returned his kiss, which became more passionate by the second. After a few minutes, we pulled away to breath and he placed his forehead against mine.

"I'm sorry, Paige," he whispered, eyes closed tightly shut as if trying to pretend this was all a bad dream. "I'm so sorry. I never meant for it to go this far."

I snorted. "Of course you didn't," I told him, wanting to cry again but feeling as if my tear ducts had gone dry. "You never intended me to find out at all."

He didn't respond, and so we just stood there, arms around each other and foreheads pressed together. This would be the last time in a long time that we would be together like this, and we both knew that we had to make it as memorable as possible.

"I should go," I said suddenly, taking a breath and stepping back.

"Stay with me," he told me, reaching out for me once more. "Until you leave."

I chuckled at him, but shook my head. "I still need to pack. And then I have one more person that I need to say goodbye to."

Draco nodded his head, but still didn't look happy about it. "I'm sure Longbottom's wandering around somewhere."

I grinned at him and gave him one last peck on the lips. His grey eyes looked into mine and everything that wasn't said was all there, among the swirls of grey. I walked past him and made my way out into the hallway, towards the Grand Staircase, to start my quest for Neville.

~(*)~

Neville was sitting at the top of the stairs, just before the Grand Staircase. His hands were resting on his knees and he was staring at his feet. He was still in his dress robes. He turned at the sound of my approaching footsteps and then quickly stood up. He didn't look happy or relieved to see me.

"I thought they had expelled you," he told me, grimacing. "That they had already taken you away."

"I'm not expelled Neville," I began to tell him, smiling in hopes of lightening the mood. He looked at me incredulously.

"But, you used the Cruciatus Curse!" he exclaimed.

"Yes, but Dumbledore explained the situation to the governors, and they lessened the punishment," I explained to him, wondering why he didn't appear happy to hear this news. "So I'm just suspended until my 6th year."

"No…that's…that's not right," he began turning away from me, his hands shaking. "You still did it, Paige. You hurt somebody. Do you know how much damage you could've done?"

"But, but you know what he did to me right?" I asked him, licking my lips and brushing a few stray hairs out of my eyes. "I was just angry and upset. And Draco's ok, he's not hurt. Dumbledore told me so himself."

"Do you know how much damage you could've done…" he repeated, as if he didn't hear me, taking a few steps down the stairs.

I couldn't believe that Neville was getting so upset about this. Neville always accepted me, no matter what I did. He was always there for me when I was hurt and needed comforting. Something was wrong. Something wasn't right.

"Neville what's wrong?" I asked worriedly, walking down closer to him. As I approached he whipped around and put his hands up.

"No, stay away from me!" he yelled, and ran past me up the stairs.

"Neville!" I called out, alarmed. I had never seen him behave this way, never. It was as if he had suddenly…snapped. "Neville!"

As he reached the top, he stopped and turned around and looked at me, repulsion in his eyes. That look stung me.

"You are just as bad as she is," he told me darkly, and then disappeared amongst the changing staircases.

I was dumbfounded. Who was he talking about, and why was he so upset? I knew why I did it…why didn't he understand?

Feeling lower than I ever had before, I trudged all the way down to the dungeons and to the Slytherin common room. It was completely empty; everyone was either at home for Christmas or still down at the Yule Ball, and I was thankful for that. Slowly I began to pack my things into my trunk. Madame Maxime would be taking me to Beauxbatons personally, tonight. She would be returning as soon as I was dropped off. My trunk was soon packed, and I had changed into normal muggle clothes. I sat down and stared at the green-tinted wall, wondering what school was going to be like without me, when the door opened and Pansy walked in, looking rather disgruntled.

"I'm supposed to find you, Paige," she told me, annoyed. "Madame Maxime's waiting for you. Hey, are you leaving? What's going on?"

I ignored her and grabbed my trunk, walking right past her. She followed behind me closely, and continued to pester me with questions.

I was definitely not going to miss her.

~(*)~

**A/N: Heya kiddies! Sorry it took so long for me to update. It's been a crazy past couple of months, and since then, I've graduated from high school! Woo! *Does a crazy dance* But I promise you that I should be updating more often now that it is summer. But geesh it's already July o.O craziness!**

**I really enjoyed writing this chapter. It felt very deep and descriptive, and I think (hope) it is one of my best chapters yet. What did you guys think? Whose goodbye was the hardest, Draco's or Neville's? Or Pansy's? Haha just kidding. **

**But yeah this is for real. Paige is going to France to study at Beauxbatons. The next chapter is going to be a bit different, but it'll return to its usual format in the chapter after that.**

**Meh and sorry about the lack of separation here. I keep changing it but nothing happens. I can't figure out how to get the line to go across and separate everything. *grumbles* Super annoying. **


	15. Chapter 15

**Slytherin **

**Chapter 15**

**Alone**

~(*)~

_Paige,_

_ Well, nothing's really changed since you've been away. The Triwizard Tournament is still going on. In fact, yesterday was the second task. The 'champions' had to swim in the Black Lake for an hour and save one of their friends. Of course, Potter had to play hero and try to save everybody. What a try-hard. And despite that he was under for over an hour, they awarded him with bloody second place! It's a joke, honestly. Everybody just loves Potter don't they? Even you. And don't try to deny it because I'm not stupid. _

_ So what did you do to Longbottom, eh? He's a wreck! He just schlumps around the castle with this stupid frown on his face. He's not fun to mess around with anymore. Such a shame because I get bored very easily, now that I'm not worried about you anymore. _

_ Classes haven't changed much…_

_Dear Draco,_

_ Beauxbatons is very different from Hogwarts. It is more like a palace than anything. Everything is so shiny and new it's almost distracting. The food here is less satisfying than the ones at Hogwarts. It's all healthy and less fattening. Oh what I would do for a slice of Hogwarts treacle tarts! Not to mention, while we eat, there are these annoying wood nymphs that sing to us. I have never wanted to punch a creature more than I do now. And everybody here speaks French. So I need to have a translator in every class (which is really embarrassing because it means I'm behind everybody else) and then take a French class as well. It's needless to say that I miss Hogwarts. The students here aren't very nice, either. None of them are willing to help me. I've had to keep on my 'bitch' façade just so that I can hold my own here. But because of that, I haven't exactly made any friends. _

_ In response to your letter, yes I do like Harry. There is nothing wrong with him. You just choose to hate him for reasons of your own. And I didn't do anything to Neville. For some reason, he is very angry with me. He practically told me that I deserved to be expelled from school and taken away to Azkaban. I don't know what his problem is, but it is very upsetting. I'm going to write to him after I'm done with this letter. _

_ Classes here are much different than at….._

_Paige,_

_ Things are going to change, Paige. Cedric Diggory is dead. The Dark Lord is back. Potter saw him return It's very hard to believe, but I'm sure goody-two-shoes Potter wouldn't lie about something like this. He won the Tournament, but nobody knows what happened. He just turned up with the trophy and Diggory's body. Nobody seems to know what's going on, but I am positive that You-Know-Who is back. I'll get back to you with more details as soon as I find out. _

_Dear Draco,_

_ What's going on? You-Know-Who's back? But how is that possible? There must be some mistake. How did Diggory die? I'm scared, Draco. I don't know what's happening. Everybody here at Beauxbatons is confused as well. No one's telling us anything. My parents want to take me home. _

_Dear Draco,  
_

_ Why haven't you responded to my last letter? It's summer break and I'm back at home. Neville hasn't responded to any of my letters, either, and nobody knows what's going on. I haven't been receiving any news from anyone. My parents believe Harry is telling the truth, that You-Know-Who is back. They might not send me back to school, but I am trying my best to convince them. I can't just sit at home, especially not when school is probably much safer than my own home. _

_Paige, _

_ I'm sorry I couldn't write to you this summer, but…I can't tell you anything. Owls are being intercepted everywhere. The Ministry has sent us a new teacher, who is actually pretty cool. She hates Potter and gives him detention whenever she can. I think I'm going to suggest a new group of prefects, ones that can take away house points and give out detentions and stuff like that. I'm pretty sure she'll agree to it. _

_ This year is going to be considerably better than the last. Nobody believes Potter about You-Know-Who. Maybe at first they did, because Dumbledore told them at the end of last year, but not anymore. They've all gone home and read the Prophet and have been convinced otherwise by the media. I know he's telling the truth, but I am so loving it. This pathetic loser deserved this, strutting around like he owns the place. But people are really dumb. They're only on his side when he's being the hero, but as soon as something bad happens, they're all against him. Even some of his friends don't believe him. He's miserable! It's fantastic!_

_ It's O.W.L. year, and classes are much harder and there are loads more homework…._

_Dear Draco,_

_ Why couldn't you write to me? What happened? Are you in any trouble?_

_ This new teacher doesn't sound that great. You only like her because she hates Harry. That's two teachers that hate him now. That's really not fair to him, you know. And I hope that she refuses your suggestion, because, knowing you, you'll just sit and abuse your power. Especially against Harry and the other Gryffindors. And that's terrible! Nobody believes him? This is just like when everybody thought he put his name in the Goblet of Fire, and it turned out that some crazy Death Eater did. As soon as he was doing well in the tournament, everybody was on his side again. You are right, people are really thick. Perhaps I'll start writing to him, in hopes of cheering him up…_

_ Beauxbatons takes their exams in their sixth year, but since I won't be here in my sixth year, I have to study for the O.W.L.s as well, so I am right there with you. These things are damn hard to study for….._

_Paige,_

_ The word's out; You-Know-Who is back. Potter broke into the Ministry just because he could and You-Know-Who found him there. Everybody saw him, and now the word is out. I told you things were going to change, Paige, now more than ever. Umbridge is gone, and the O.W.L.s are all over. Things are crazier than ever. _

_Dear Draco,_

_ Finally, fifth year is over! I get to return to Hogwarts! I'm so excited! Although my timing couldn't be worse, what with You-Know-Who back and after everything that's happened. But despite all that, I'm glad to be returning home, and being able to see you again. I hope the results of our O.W.L.s come soon. I want to know how I did. I feel as if Charms was my best…_

_Dear Draco,_

_ I got 9 O.W.L.s! Charms, DADA, Transfiguration, Potions, History of Magic, Astronomy, Herbology, Arithmancy, and COMC! The only one I failed was Divination, and let's face it, that class is rubbish. I only got two Oustandings, but I've still passed the others! Now I have to start thinking about classes that I want to take in my sixth year…._

_Dear Draco,_

_ Why aren't you responding again? I know you're getting these letters. Please, tell me what's going on!_

_Dear Draco,_

_ If you don't respond in this instant I am going to fly over to your door and physically get a response out of your. _

_Dear Draco,_

_ God damn it Draco! School is going to start soon, so I am going to be seeing and talking to you anyways. You're really starting to piss me off. _

_Draco, _

_ Please don't do this to me. Don't ignore me. You can't do that, not after all that's happened. I'd rather have you teasing me and bullying me, because it meant you knew that I existed. Something is wrong, I can tell. Whether you like it or not, I am going to find out, and I am going to help you. I'm really hurt that you don't trust me, or care enough to tell me anything. I…I think I love you, Draco, and the moment I finally had you, I was sent away. Please don't stay away. Please. _

_Dear Neville,_

_ I know you hate me but…I don't know where else to turn. Draco is not responding to my letters and nobody is telling me what's going on. I miss you, Neville. I don't understand what happened, and I want you back in my life. You were my first, and only, true friend that I had. I love you, Neville, maybe not in the way you want me to, but I really do. I care for you so much. Please write back. _

I put down my quill next to the short letter that I had been writing. I hadn't had a response from either of the boys I had been writing to, and I was starting to grow desperate. All I had to talk to around her was my parents, but that doesn't help me much considering that they don't trust me, and probably will never trust me again. It was like I was some freak living under their roof.

"What were you thinking?" My mother had yelled at me, looking into my eyes with disbelief. "You could have severely hurt that boy."

"But mum!" I yelled, my voice cracking and eyes red from crying. "I told you what happened, what that boy did to me-"

"That is still no excuse," my dad told me calmly, looking at the floor. I could hear the disappointment in his voice. "You used an Unforgivable Curse on a fellow student. Now, I could understand a hex or some other curse, but Crucio? Really? I thought that we had taught you better than that."

"You had," I told them, pleading with them. "I was just so angry, so upset…I didn't know what else to do!"

"You could have told a teacher!" my mother shrieked, her eyes flashing. "You could have let the boy run away! Anything but that….that…"

She couldn't get the words out. She was so angry with me, I could just tell.

"You are not to leave this house," my dad said quietly, after a brief moment of silence. "You are to stay in your room and study for school. You may only leave to go to the bathroom and to eat."

"I've been away in a different country, a different school!" I screamed, my anger growing with every response. "Isn't that bloody punishment enough?"

They didn't respond. Just looked away from me, at anything that was not their own daughter. I sniffed.

"You both think that I'm going to become a dark, evil witch now, don't you?" I paused and waited for a response. There was none. "I was put in Slytherin. What the hell did you expect?"

I gave them one last look and stormed upstairs to my room. Every time that I had come down to eat, I would either be alone at the table, or completely ignored by my parents. Eventually, I resorted to not coming down and not eating anything at all. And now that both my respondents had given up on me, I was completely and entirely alone. Dumbledore had been right, just as I knew he would be.

I looked down at the knife that I had brought up from the kitchen, which neither of my parents had noticed. I gently brushed my fingers against the sharp tip of it all the way down to the handle, and then held the weapon in my head. I placed it against my wrist and just stared at it. It would have been so easy to press the blade into my flesh, to watch the blood pour out of it. How long would it take for anybody to notice? Would my parents even care if I had gone? Would the world be any different if I no longer existed? No, probably not. The world had enough chaos in it, it would probably be thrilled to see that it was lacking one last troublesome human.

_Courage._

The word echoed through my head, through my body, through my entire being, and the knife fell out of my grasped and clanged with a loud echo on the floor. I saw Neville in my mind, him laughing and smiling at me, despite how badly he was treated. I saw Harry Potter, the remarkable boy who had done amazing things and yet was still tossed aside at the sign of trouble. So many others had been through worse than I had, and yet here I was ready to take my own life.

Tears came flowing out of my eyes again and sobs erupted from my mouth. Why was I such an idiot? What the hell was wrong with me? How on Earth was I going to fix this?

_Only time will tell_, I thought to myself. _But for now, you're alone. _

~(*)~

**A/N: I told you this chapter was going to be a little different. I had the idea for the letter writing in my head, and then I added that last narration at the end. I figured some idea into this new life of Paige's was necessary. What did you think of it? What about her almost suicide attempt? **

**Next chapter we get to go back to Hogwarts! Yeah! So exciting! But then again, maybe not. Paige's life kind of sucks at the moment, so it may not be very exciting. **

**What did you think about what Draco said about people being stupid? I figured it would be very appropriate for him to admit something like that, because it is very true. I mean, he obviously knows that Voldy is alive and well now, with his dad being a Death Eater and what not, and he is seeing this all happen. Of course, he's thrilled with it, but still. **

**What did you guys think of the movie? It finally came out! So exciting! I thought it was a good movie, but was very disappointed by the amount of things that were left out of the book, that would have been so easy to add in. I mean, Part 1 followed the book so well! I guess Yates only sticks to the book when they're not at Hogwarts, because he also kind of ruined the 5****th**** and 6****th**** movies for me, especially the 6****th****. **

**Oh and I actually got to meet Matthew Lewis, the guy who played Neville in the movies. ^_^ I got to interview him. It was very very exciting. I'll post the link to the video here, in case you guys want to watch it (and see what I look like! :OOOO) Oh and I am also getting to meet Tom Felton this week. Yeah I know, my life is pretty awesome. I met James and Oliver Phelps 4 years ago, and that was pretty cool, too. **

http:/ www. wciu. com/ youandme. p hp?section= home&assets= videos& assetID=10006105

^Check that out.


	16. Chapter 16

**Slytherin**

**Chapter 16**

**Confessions**

**~()~**

Boarding the Hogwart's Express was not the cheerful, happy event that it usually was. The atmosphere was different this time around; darker, more depressing. Where parents would hug and kiss and wave to their children as they boarded the train, there was a quick hug and then they were forced onto the train. There weren't happy smiles, or parents crying. Instead, there were grim faces and cautious body movements. Nobody lingered for longer than a few minutes. Parents waited for the train to leave, but as soon as it had gone, they would be, too.

I stepped out of my parent's car quietly and closed the door behind me. My parents loitered at the station for a few seconds, in which there was only silence. I didn't turn around and smile at them or wave or anything of the sort, and I knew without looking that they weren't either. I just stood where I was, staring ahead at King's Cross Station. Eventually, my father got out of the car and opened the trunk. He disappeared into the busy train station and returned seconds later with a trolley. Neither of us looked nor said a word to the other. Silently, he loaded my trunk and other belongings onto the trolley, and returned to the car. I heard the car pull away and after only another brief moment of standing there, I made my way over to Platform 9¾.

Before I knew it, the barrier was there before me, and instead of pausing, and then charging at the entrance, I simply walked through it at my own, even pace. The platform was busy, as usual, but not the same. I placed all my belongings minus my trunk at the back of the train, where the conductor was loading them on board. Then I turned on my heel and boarded the train, ignoring the whispering that was following behind me.

I wasn't surprised by the looks of surprise and the quiet gossip that was being spread around me; in fact, I was expecting it. Well, I had used an Unforgivable Curse on a student and then disappeared entirely from the school. The only ones who knew of my whereabouts were Professor Dumbledore, my parents, Draco, and Neville. I was sure that there were many rumors about me being sent to Azkaban. But at that moment, I didn't care. I didn't care about anything. I was to finish my last two years of school, and then get the hell out of here. If it were up to me, I would have ran away a long time ago, escaped out into the country side, but I knew I had to finish school. It would be near impossible trying to find a job if I hadn't graduated, and if I was going to be on my own, I needed all the money I could get.

My insides felt empty and my eyes heavy as I walked down the hall of the Hogwart's Express, trying to find an empty compartment to myself.

"Paige?" a familiar, yet terribly annoying, voice cried out from behind me. I stopped in my tracks and slowly turned around to look at my pursuer. Pansy Parkinson's head was sticking out from one of the compartments. She clapped a hand to her mouth and stared at me in disbelief. "Oh my God! It's been so long! Come join us, and tell us where the hell you've been."

I stared at her emotionlessly for a moment.

"Paige…you…you look awful," she said, not sounding worried at all. She wrinkled her nose at me. Someone pulled on her robes and she ducked her head back inside shouting, "Hey, shut up, I'm allowed to invite anyone I want in here, ok?"

By the time her head had reappeared, I had already turned around and was marching away, her voice calling out after me. I blocked her out the best I could.

I was like a mindless zombie roaming the hallway, and people were staring at me as if I were one. Eventually, I heard a familiar voice, and stopped dead in my tracks. Turning my head to the side, I saw a compartment filled with two well-known Gryffindors. Harry Potter was sitting next to Neville Longbottom, and across from a girl I did not recognized. She was blond, but that was all I could tell; her face was concealed by some magazine. Suddenly Harry stopped talking and looked at me through the glass window, surprised. His head was followed by Neville's, and as soon as we made eye contact, he turned away and was concentrating very hard on the floor. I felt my lip quiver and knew that I needed to get out of there fast. Harry lifted a hand to wave and his mouth began to turn up into a smile, but I took no notice. I fled down the corridor, knocking people out of my way.

The only compartment I found that was nearly empty was occupied by two very small boys that appeared to be brothers; they had very similar, almost mouse-like features. I pulled open the door and without asking for permission to join them, I took a seat down on the right side, as far away from the older brother as I could possibly go.

There was an awkward silence, and the boys exchanged glances.

"Oh my God! Dennis, Dennis do you know who that is?" the older boy "whispered" to his brother, Dennis, I assumed. "That's Paige Hollands! _Paige Hollands!_ You know, the girl who disappeared last year?"

"Oh oh oh oh!" Dennis squeaked excitedly, jumping up and down in his seat, and I knew that I had chosen the wrong compartment. I debated in my head whether or not this was worse than being in the same compartment as Neville. "The one who used the Cruciatus Curse on Draco Malfoy?"

"Yeah!" the first boy exclaimed as if this were the most exciting news ever. "Hey, hey Paige! My name is Collin Creevey! This is my brother, Dennis! We're in Gryffindor."

The introduction was met with silence, but neither of the boys seemed put off by it; in fact, it seemed to encourage them.

"You are so cool, do you know that?" Collin continued. "I mean, you beat up Draco Malfoy! _Draco Malfoy!_"

"You're a legend," Dennis concluded. "So were you in Azkaban-"

But before he could finish his question, I had pulled my wand up and walked up to him, pointing it at his throat. His face paled and his eyes were both staring directly at my wand.

"Say another word," I began, my voice shaky and cracking from its lack of use. "Or I will use a spell that will cause your intestines to be forcibly and painfully removed from your body."

When there was only silence that met my threat, I slowly backed away and returned to my seat, staring straight ahead as if nothing had just happened. After that there was only the blessed sound of the train rocketing along the tracks and the murmur of students in the neighboring compartments. That is, until…

"Whoa! Dennis, she just _threatened_ you!" Collin exclaimed, his voice rising in pitch.

"I know Collin!" the other brother exclaimed, eyes wide with wonder. His head whipped toward his brother and he began poking him like crazy. "Quick, quick Collin! Get your camera out! I want to remember this moment! Do you think she would be willing to take a picture with me?"

"No she would not!" I snarled, but before I could pull my wand out for a second time, a third year girl opened the door.

"Paige Hollands?" she asked breathlessly, as if she had been running up and down the corridors in search of me.

I raised my eyebrows at her. I didn't know this girl, what did she want with me? The girl handed over a rolled up slip of parchment to me, and then took off into the hallway.

"What is it?" Dennis asked, taking the seat next to me. I turned and glared at him, but curious to find out what this was about, I unrolled the parchment and read it silently to myself.

_Ms. Hollands,_

_ I would be delighted if you would join me for a bite of lunch in compartment C. _

_ Sincerely, _

_ Professor H.E.F. Slughorn _

There suddenly was a flash that lit up the entire compartment, and with blinking eyes I looked around to see what the source was; Collin had found his camera.

"Aw, Collin!" Dennis whined, glaring at his older brother. "We weren't even looking!"

"Who the hell is Professor Slughorn?" I asked, ignoring the bickering brothers. I looked questioningly at them, but both shrugged.

"Before you go, could you just pose with me?" Dennis asked, eager and full of expectation.

I looked at him in incredulously, and then pushed him back down onto the seat. As I left the room, I could hear them shouting behind me, "Did you get a picture of that?" "No, I didn't know she was going to do that! You are so lucky Dennis!" I just shook my head in disbelief.

I dread going through the halls; there were students everywhere, trying to find their friends, stretching their legs, or searching for the lunch trolley. I had to squeeze my way past all of them, and of course people stopped to stare at me or turn to their friend and say something. Now I knew what Harry Potter felt like.

Opening the door to compartment C, I found that I was not the only one that was invited; in fact, the compartment was packed with other students, some I recognized, and some I didn't. But there were two boys that I was hoping I would not be seeing anytime soon.

"Ah, Ms. Hollands!" a very large man with a moustache resembling the tusks of a walrus exclaimed, attempting to stand up, but found himself too tightly packed in his seat to do so. He resorted to just waving his hand in greeting. "Welcome, I am so glad that you could join us!"

I glanced at him briefly, but my focus remained with Neville. He was avoiding my gaze.

"I'm just going to give a brief introduction," Slughorn announced, his voice light and airy. "There's Blaise Zabini, from your house. Cormac McLaggen, Gryffindor, but in your year. Marcus Belby, and then Ms. Ginny Weasley." Ginny poked her red head out from behind Slughorn, just to see who had entered. The rest of the room nodded their heads in greeting, save Neville. "Ms. Belby, I'm sure you wouldn't mind taking a seat on the ground to make room for our lovely new guest."

Belby, who had just been gnawing on a pheasant leg, looked up questioningly at Slughorn, but sat on the ground anyway. I immediately took his seat, happy to see that my view of Neville was going to be obstructed by the others.

Slughorn went around the room, interviewing each student. It seemed as if the only thing this group of people had in common was the fact that they had known or were related to somebody well-known or influential.

"Now Mr. Longbottom," Slughorn began, turning his focus over to Neville, who looked quite nervous. I perked up at this. "Your parents were amazing aurors, and amazing people. Yes, I taught them myself, back in the day. Extraordinary wizards. Your mother had a talent for potions, yes she did. How are they? Still in St. Mungo's?"

Slughorn's question was met with a cold nod from Neville. It was clear that he did not want to talk about it, so Slughorn moved on to the next student; me. But I wasn't ready. I wanted to know what happened to Neville's parents. He had never mentioned a word of his parents to me the entire time that we had been friends.

"Ms. Hollands," Slughorn began, smiling at me. I didn't smile back. "After Ludo Bagman resigned, your father took over the post of head of the Department of Magical and Sports. Yes, your father always had promising talent at school, back when I taught him. Haven't kept much contact with him, but now that I am teaching his daughter, we'll have much to talk about."

And so the rest of the afternoon went on like that; although much of the attention was forced onto Harry, who looked uncomfortable and annoyed. I didn't blame him; I would much rather be stuck back in the compartment with Collin and Dennis. Eventually the train pulled up into Hogsmeade station.

"Good gracious, it's getting dark already! I didn't notice they'd lit the lamps! You'd better go and change into your robes, all of you. McLaggen, you must drop by and borrow that book on nogtails. Harry, Blaise – any time you're passing. Same goes for you two, Miss Hollands and Miss Weasley," he twinkled at Ginny and me. "Well, off you go, off you go!"*

And so we were dismissed. Quickly, everybody stood up and began to exit the cramped compartment. It was obvious that nobody wanted to linger there any longer. I sat where I was for a moment, and after the room was cleared out, I followed suit. Neville and Harry were just ahead of me. He was so close to me, just within my reach, but I was too afraid to do anything. I didn't know how Neville was going to react. Would he ignore me? Would he yell at me again, in that same disappointing and angry tone? I didn't think I could bare that, not again, not after all this time. So, I let him go.

I continued to walk forward, with my eyes cast at the ground. I really didn't care anymore. I just needed to put my robes on and get off this train. I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't realize there was someone standing in front of me…until I ran into them.

"Sorry," I murmured, glancing up into their face. I was ready to just move on and walk away when I saw that it was Neville. He seemed so stunned to see me that he didn't flee, didn't run away. My heart skipped a beat, and I struggled to find the words to say to him. "Neville…weren't…weren't you just with Harry?"

I was trying to initiate conversation with him. It was what I wanted, what I needed, and I knew that it was a long shot. He just seemed to stare at me, his eyes filled with a mixture of eagerness and apprehension, but then he snapped out of it.

"Oh um…he had to…he had to leave," Neville answered quietly, and then turned on his heel to leave. Not wanting to miss this chance, not after having a taste of him back in my life, I grabbed onto his shoulder and yanked him back.

"Tell me what's wrong Neville," I asked him, feeling my lip tremble once more. "You never responded to any of my letters. You act as if you hate me. You won't tell me what I did. Please, just tell me what I did wrong!"

The entire time, he was avoiding my eyes, and it was heartbreaking to me.

"I just want to know," I whispered, defeated. My arms dropped to my sides as I let him go, allowing him to walk away from me. Students were already beginning to emerge from their compartments, and I wasn't even dressed yet. "I love you, Neville."

I raised my head up once more, to find that I was alone. He did not hear my confession. And it was possible that he never would.

~()~

**A/N: So guys, what did you think? I really really enjoyed writing this one. I know I say that a lot, but when I began this, everything started flowing out naturally. Can you feel the hopelessness with Paigey?  
**

**I am LOVING the response I got from that last chapter! Well, I think it was mostly because of how I got to interview Matthew Lewis, but I don't care. I got reviews (almost at 100! Keep em coming guys!) and that's all that matters. **

**Well, I met Tom Felton, but I did not get to interview him like some people thought I would. No, he just came to a nearby movie theater and was signing autographs for fans. I talked to him for a whole 2 seconds, and then it was over. Really sad. **

**I would like to keep a special thanks area here, so that I can thank all the awesome people who have left reviews here, and also answer the questions that people have been asking. So here it goes. **

**SPECIAL THANKS:**

**AnnieOwnsTheStreets**: I am so thrilled to hear that my story has made you cry! That is really flattering for an author, and I thank you so much! ^_^ I shall be anxiously awaiting your babbling reviews.

**LovelyKitten2093**: Well what the interview didn't show was me freaking out. The entire time beforehand I was running around the hotel room like a chicken with its head cut off. I was so nervous….but it went pretty well, so that I'm ok with. And I am glad you agreed with me about the movie. I lot of people have the same idea, but then there are others who are all crazy and are like WHAT? THAT MOVIE WAS AMAZING! THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH IT blah blah blah. It wasn't perfect, but it was good.

**MoonWolf27**: Glad you like the story ^_^ And to answer your question, for Matthew Lewis, I am friends with the cameraman from that news station, the U. I did some volunteer work for him back in October. The station wanted a fan to interview him, and originally he asked my sisters, who are twins, to interview him, because they liked the twin angle. My sisters said they would only do it if I came along, because they're not really big Harry Potter fans, and they are super camera shy. But then they said there wasn't going to be enough room for me, so they said no. Finally, he asked if I wanted to do it, so I did. And that's how it went down. With Tom Felton, he came to a movie theater and was signing autographs for fans. I wasn't there to interview him, but I did get a picture and an autograph from him.

**The supernatural calls to me:** well no one's ever asked to be in one of my stories before…but I'm not sure if I'll be able to do it. I can try to fit you in somewhere, but it won't be exactly according to your specifications. I have everything already set out in this story, and don't really want to make any changes. But we'll see.

**LadyFelton1994: **For some reason, this site doesn't allow me to post websites here, so you might have to make a few adjustments, add a period, subtract a space, etc. But to answer your question, no I am not a reporter. Read my explanation to MoonWolf, and you'll understand. I did get Tom Felton's autograph, though, and a picture with him. I'll post the link down at the bottom.

**xxSlytheringirl101xx:** Glad you liked the chapter. I got to meet Tom because he came to a nearby movie theater and he was signing autographs for fans. I did not get to interview him like I did with Matthew Lewis. In fact, I barely got to talk to Tom at all. It was very very brief.

**PleadingTheFifth:** So glad you liked the letter chapter. I wasn't sure if I was going to like it myself, but I felt it was necessary. And it is very nice chatting with you over PM

**Soccer-Chan**: I've never had a translator following me around myself, but I bet it would be annoying. And yeah, Draco stopped writing for reasons of his own. Poor Paigey . And yeah it was really cool meeting all of these Harry Potter stars. If I got to meet Alan or Rupert, I would be thrilled, but it is not likely to happen. I wish though _

**TheNerds:** I'm super glad that you liked this chapter, and glad that you liked the movie. I enjoyed it as well. And I cried like a baby two of the three times that I saw it.

**Alright quick question for you guys…is Paige a Mary-Sue? Because I recently discovered that my story was in TWO Mary-Sue communities and I was really sad because I tried so hard to make her as un-Mary-Sue-like as possible. Perhaps in the beginning she was, but not so much anymore. I'm going through the past chapters and editing them. Can you believe that I've been writing this story for like, 3 years? That's ridiculous! **

**Leave a review! ^_^**

**And here's the link of the picture with me and Tom Felton. It won't let me post the full link, so I have to adjust it as best as I can.**

**http:/ tinseltown-photo. smugmug. com/ Celebrity-Events/ Tom-Felton-Harry-Potter-and/ 18177773_KX3VN2#1396485248_d9rMT4r-A-LB**

**If not, got to http:/ tinseltown-photo. Smugmug. Com, got o celebrity events, Tom Felton Friday July 22****nd****, and it should be on page 5. Look for the girl wearing a black t-shirt and a blue scarf. **


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